Root
by lightning king
Summary: Naruto is tricked by the delicious ramen into joining Root. Will he become a mindless drone or Danzo's greatest pupil. How will his outlook on the village change when he sees its darker side. Will he still try for the Kage hat? Expect a long journey. ADOPTED.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: don't own Naruto.**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

"So... I can become stronger?" Naruto Uzumaki asked. Here he was, a seven year old child being asked if he wanted to become strong. He was talking to a man in a mask who had been helping him the last couple of weeks. If Naruto ran out of ramen or wanted some free ramen, the masked man made sure he got some. Yes, the secret plan of Danzo Shimura to gain Naruto as a part of Root was through ramen. Fu himself couldn't believe that his Master was using Ramen to gain the trust of the young jinchuriki, but whatever worked was accepted in Root and so far, it was working.

"Will you teach me really cool ninja techniques? Can you show me how to shoot fire and have lightning strike from my hands! Can you? Can you?" Naruto was extremely excited that someone would teach him how to be a very cool ninja. Now he would show Sasuke who was boss. No more would he be the class dobe. Now people would have to look up to him. He would be acknowledged.

Fu could only shake his head at the pure excitement the young boy was giving off. He wondered if his Master knew what he would be getting into with the young jinchuriki. He said, "Yes, Naruto, my Master and I will make sure you learn all kinds of cool ninjutsu. We will also make sure you can have ramen whenever you want. It can even be from Ichiraku's."

At the word Ichiraku, Naruto's eyes got huge. Fu knew that he had him now. "Follow me, Naruto, and I will introduce you to my Master. He will make sure you become strong enough to defeat anyone you want." Naruto's eyes were steadily growing larger. _Not only free ramen but also training! Man someone sure loves me._

Fu lead young Naruto through the streets of Konoha. The evening was fast fading and the moon was just now starting to be seen from behind Hokage Mountain. _This truly is a great place to protect, _Fu thought ideally. _Now we will finally have our king piece that will protect this village for years to come. Naruto Uzumaki will show the world the power of Konoha_!

The two walked for ten minutes passing many shops and homes before they finally reached their goals. Fu had cast a mind-altering genjutsu half-way through the walk which made many of the people on the streets look away from them. This was just one of the techniques in Root's ranks to help keep the Hokage and powerful jounin from growing suspicious of them. Their ending point turned out to be a hidden entrance in a forest clearing that led down into the ground via stairs.

Naruto was so excited that he would finally learn how to do the cool ninja tricks. _There was even a secret base_! Yep, excited really didn't even begin to describe the feelings of euphoria running through the blonde's system at that moment. Fu just looked on in bemusement as the jinchuriki bounced around.

They descended down into the darkness. Besides the feeling of slight fear, Naruto was very happy with his position. He was about to get training from some sort of super secret ninjas. The two arrived in front of a door, and Fu knocked on it with a certain pattern to alert the ones inside of his return. The door opened and Naruto with Fu went inside.

Naruto looked around. He saw that he was in an underground cavern or something of the sort. He saw a few branching hallways that went even farther underground on both sides of the cavern. The cave was lit by a few flickering torches that left a lot of things in shadow. Naruto then looked into the middle of the room, and he saw who he guessed was his new teacher. It wasn't a very impressive sight. He stood leaning on a cane with half his body covered in bandages.

"Hello, Mr. This nice cat dude told me that you would teach me how to be an awesome ninja!" Fu almost snorted. T_his kids bubbly attitude was probably going to start getting on Master's nerves very fast, but you got to respect a kid that can keep that attitude in front of Master. _Danzo's eyebrow gave the slightest twitch at the young boy's speech. He quickly controlled himself and got himself ready for business.

"Naruto Uzumaki. My name is Danzo Shimura. I have brought you here to... give you some options. You can either stay weak and be called the dobe for the rest of your life or you can become strong under my training. If you choose to stay weak then I Konoha will be weak. If you choose my way, then Konoha will prosper. I tell you this because you will be a very important person in Konoha one day. I am giving you the opportunity to be the best you could possibly be. Which will you choose?" Danzo delivered all of this in a calm voice that seemed to send shivers through Naruto.

"Um... Danzo-jiji, I want to become strong! I want people to acknowledge me! Then one day, I will become Hokage and the whole village will look up to me! Believe it!" Naruto finally found someone who would give him a chance. _ This Danzo person seemed to think that he was special. Finally, someone who sees that I can be great. I will be great_!

Danzo's eye started twitching at being called Danzo-jiji, but he figured he would wait until the boy had gone through some... conditioning before he started being harsh to him. It wouldn't do to run off the potentially most powerful weapon he had ever had. He gave a tiny nod to Fu to make sure he knew the role he was going to play. At his nod, Danzo proceeded with his plan. He remembered his talk with his subordinate earlier. Everything was going to plan.

**Flashback 9 days ago:**

"Are you sure about this Danzo-sama? I mean won't the Hokage be watching Naruto very closely. He seems to treat him to ramen a couple times a month at the least. If Sarutobi finds out that Naruto has been invited into Root, he will flip." Danzo gave a small chuckle at his subordinates concerns.

"That is why he will never find out. I admit that I won't be able to give Naruto the full Root training. Most likely some if not many emotions will remain because he will not be able to be in the compound all the time. This is unfortunate, but the time I do have with him will shape him into the greatest weapon that Konoha possesses. If I can get him to control the Fox, then Konoha's perceived power will rise. It is as simple as that." Danzo chuckled at the coup he was going to pull over dear Sarutobi. The funny thing was that he would never find out how Danzo got his pseudo-grandson from right before his nose.

"Make sure you offer the boy ramen and training. Those two alone will bring the boy right into our fold." Danzo chuckled at the irony. Ramen was going to bring the potentially strongest jinchuriki into his hands. It was quite funny. "Soon the Fox will be in my hands, and when it is he will be trained. By the time he is eleven, I want him able to do assassination missions. It depends on his affinity on who will teach him. I might even instruct him myself if he has the rare wind affinity." Fu could tell that the last statement was more musing on Danzo's part than anything else. Fu knew his Master had never taken an apprentice. He always overlooked some of his more prized agents training though. In this way, he was the Master of most of Root as well as being their Master.

"Now, begin the operation, and make sure everything is in place. All the fuss going on about that issue should allow us the perfect opportunity to contact the boy while Sarutobi's attention is elsewhere. This opportunity might not come again. Don't screw it up." Fu bowed and then shunshined away. It was time for the plan to start.

**End flashback**

_Now, Naruto Uzumaki is before me. It is time to mould him into what he should always have been_. Danzo looked at the little blonde boy in front of him. He was wearing orange was the first thing that crossed his mind. How Sarutobi allowed him to wear orange he would never know, but that would be the first thing to go. Danzo had also seen a report on the kid's progress at the Academy. It was poor to say the least. _I have my work cut out for me, but by the time I am through, this child will be my secret weapon._

"Naruto Uzumaki, it is time for your training to begin." Naruto, after hearing this, started jumping for joy. He would finally be able to get strong enough were people would recognize him. He knew this because he was in a cave with secret ninja. _They had to be super strong _was his thought process. Naruto then saw the old man, Danzo, walking away. He was about to run after him when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned around and saw the masked guy that had introduced himself as Fu those two weeks ago.

"Thank you so much, masked guy. If not for you, I would never have had this opportunity to grow stronger! Thanks!" Fu looked on bemusedly. _This bubbly kid was going to be transformed into the perfect weapon? Maybe if he was immersed in the teachings of Root, but Master had already said that wouldn't be possible. Fu ideally wondered if any conditioning would break young Naruto from his bubbly personality. It was worth a shot at any rate. _

"Follow me and your training will begin. We have about a month before you have to leave again. That month will be used to train you mainly in chakra control and in the physical arts." Naruto got a weird look on his face when he heard that he would be leaving in a month. _When did he decide on that? _

"Fu... sensei? Why am I going to be here a month? Is that only how long you are going to train me?" Naruto really didn't understand all this strange talk. Fu looked on his new disciple with a satisfied look. _Maybe the kid was not as stupid as he first came off as. _He could hope.

"The Hokage has something he will be doing for the next month. This means that you will be able to stay down here exclusively. When the Hokage gets back from his business, you will have to go live back in your apartment. When you are there, your training will be curtailed, but you will still find the time to come here and you will be trained. Any questions?" After Naruto's head shake, Fu signaled the boy to follow him, and they started walking to one of the branching pathways leading out of the large cavern.

"Why can't Hokage-jiji be here when I get trained?" Naruto asked. He really didn't understand why Jiji couldn't know he was training. _Maybe its because right when training is over, I will be taking his hat. So the whole thing has to be a surprise. Thats got to be it! Not only is this super ninja training, it is super secret ninja training designed to place the hat right on my head._ Naruto nodded sagely at his thoughts. He then looked at his new sensei with stars in his eyes.

Fu was getting kind of puzzled over the kid's amazed look. He seemed to be going through a couple of emotions a second. Fu sighed at the trouble the kid was sure to make happen.

They finally reached the room Fu was leading them to. He opened it and showed Naruto the inside. It was a small bedroom with a wash-closet set off to the side. On the table in the room was a steaming bowl of ramen. Fu knew he had to keep the ramen front up. Thats why the kid was going to get delicious ramen for most meals. Of course vital vitamins were placed into the ramen that would ensure Naruto would not miss out on any nutrients. Thats how he would be able to eat ramen almost everyday and not be a stunted dwarf.

Naruto shouted in glee when he saw the ramen. He rushed over to make sure he got some. He grabbed the chopsticks and started digging in. It was delicious. Whoever made it sure knew their stuff. After two minutes of fierce eating, Naruto finished. Fu was still at the doorway just watching the newest member to Root with something close to horror. Of course it wasn't horror, but it was close to it. _That kid sure has bad manners_ were his despairing thoughts.

"Ok, now that you are done. It is time to begin the training. Follow me to the dojo were we will determine just were you are right now." After saying this, he walked away. Naruto followed right behind him. After passing about five doors, Fu led Naruto in a door on the left side of the hallway. When they entered, Naruto was amazed at the size of the room they were in. The whole room was covered in white, paper doors, the floors were solid concrete, and he could see some training dummies against one of the back walls. It truly was a dojo.

"Your goal is to attack me until I say stop. You can use any jutsu in your arsenal. You also don't have to worry about destroying the place because Danzo-sama has made sure that there are seals protecting anything from getting damaged. Just know that if you fall, its going to hurt. You will find that the best lessons are dealt with pain, so while you are training here, you will experience pain. Prepare yourself for it!" Fu finished his speech with an attack on Naruto. Naruto gulped in fear during Fu-sensei's speech. He then ducked quickly as his sensei attacked.

When Naruto ducked, Fu kicked out at him. The kick landed right in his stomach. Naruto's eyes got wide in pain as he was sent flying across the room. "Come on, attack me! Are you this weak as to not even put up a fight!" Fu berated. It had not been a good showing so far, but he was only seven. Even though people who had been adopted by Root were usually around genin level by seven or eight. Naruto had some catching up to do.

Naruto rushed his sensei with all the reckless abandon only a seven year old has. Fu shook his head at the stupidity of the kid. _Shouldn't he be able to realize that a straight up attack will never work. I am much too fast. He should fight like a ninja! _ Fu jumped out of the way of the attack and slammed Naruto's head into the ground. Blood went flying.

Naruto couldn't believe the pain he was in. His sensei had just nailed him! Naruto got up slowly and wiped the blood from his nose. _Well that didn't work. Next plan. _The problem was that Naruto didn't have another plan. They only thing he knew how to do was rush straight at an opponent and hope for the best. He had only just unlocked his chakra a few months ago. Naruto really wasn't feeling the love at that moment.

Fu rushed in and started a full-out attack on the young child. This attack ended up putting Naruto on the concrete again and again. The only thing that really impressed Fu was that the kid just kept getting back up. Otherwise he would have considered him a waste of space. Fu decided to end the exercise when he thought he heard something pop.

"Ok, Naruto... there are some definite problems, but with training those problems will disappear. Lets try a different test now. I want you to place the leaf on your forehead. You must keep it there with your chakra. Begin!" Naruto was astonished at the rapid pace everything was happening. Just seconds ago he was getting his butt handed to him, and now he was using chakra to put a leaf on his head? Naruto decided to just go with it for now. He placed the leaf on his head and tried to make it stick. The problem was that it wouldn't stick. He tried time after time, but no matter what he did, the leaf would not stick.

Sighing in frustration, Fu decided that the only training that would get done in the next month would be physical training and chakra control. _Master wanted the boy to start learning how to use the Fox's chakra too. Thats going to have to wait until the boy can at least do something ninja related by himself. _Fu started coaching Naruto through the exercise step by step.

This set-up continued for the whole month. Fu would beat Naruto until he started getting things right. Then Fu would have Naruto work on kata and physical conditioning: such as running, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and weights. Every day gave new bruises to the young boy, but he suffered them gladly because after his training was done he would be getting the hat and he would kick Sasuke's butt. Fu also had Naruto learning chakra control for at least four hours a day. Most days went even longer than that. Naruto eventually got the hang of it.

The only thing that bothered Naruto about the whole training thing was that Fu-sensei kept telling him to not show his emotions. Naruto was usually a happy boy that would scream his feelings to the world, and Fu-sensei would just tell him to stop. That was a fact that really didn't sit well with him, but he usually forgot about this fact when he got all he could eat ramen at the end of every day. _Ramen truly makes the world go round _were Naruto's last thoughts before he fell asleep for the night. The next day he would be going back to his apartment, Fu-sensei had told him. He was kinda sad that he would not be able to train the day away anymore. But he figured that he would still be able to because he had another month until the Academy was back in session. _This summer vacation is turning out to be the best yet; well it is the first but thats beside the point._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts._

**Bold means Kyuubi speak**

_**Bold + italics means Kyuubi's thoughts**_

"I can't believe this is happening. Getting to training and back takes way too long now!" Naruto griped to himself. It was taking him at least 30 minutes to get to his training area. _It seemed that Fu-sensei was trying to be extra sneaky when it came to getting me trained. _ Naruto lamented all the steps needed for him to gain the Hat.

It has now been 1 month and a half since Naruto started training with Root. His sensei had acknowledged that he was getting better, but Naruto didn't see how. All he ever did was chakra control and physical enhancement. He knew that this stuff was good for him, but he was ready to learn jutsus. Little did he know that his training was about to take an entirely different turn.

When he reached the secret base, Fu was waiting for him. Naruto got a little suspicious because usually Fu-sensei was waiting for him in the dojo. When Fu lead him past the door to the dojo, Naruto knew something different was about to happen. They finally stopped outside a door that Naruto had never entered before.

When they got inside, Naruto saw Danzo-jiji. Considering that the man was the head of Root, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to see him, but it did since Naruto hadn't seen the man since he first started training. Danzo looked at the boy he had most recently acquired. Looking at Fu's reports were at least a little promising. According the Fu, the boy came in with almost no skills and now had the chakra control of an up-and-coming genin. Though his taijutsu skills still needed some work. Danzo had decided to go ahead and start him learning how to control the Fox within him.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Danzo began. "You are here to be told the truth. The truth about why people don't want to acknowledge you." After hearing this, Naruto was getting excited. He would finally learn the truth! When Danzo saw the happy face going across his future subordinate, he signaled Fu with a slight nod of his head. Fu, waiting for the signal, slammed Naruto's head into the ground.

Naruto gave his sensei a look of betrayal until Fu-sensei whispered the word emotions. Naruto then ran through sensei's teachings on controlling emotions. Naruto schooled his face and then turned back to Danzo. Danzo gave a slight nod. The jinchuriki's training was coming along, if not well, then at least adequately.

"As I was saying. Naruto Uzumaki, on the day of your birth, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Fearing for the safety of the village, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sealed the biju into a young child. That child is you, Naruto." At this, Naruto's eyes were huge. He had a huge fox inside him? He couldn't believe it. He looked at his stomach, then he looked back at the old man. _Maybe he was going crazy_?

Seeing Naruto's look of disbelief, Danzo gave the nod for Fu to finish the story. Fu knelt down next to his young student and said, "Naruto, the Fourth gave you a great blessing." Naruto had enough. Now someone was calling something that made everyone ignore him a blessing! That was too much for the young seven year old boy.

"Ha ha ha ha! You guys almost had me. There's no way something like that could be a blessing, so that means you guys are lying to me. I expected better of you Fu-sensei." Naruto finished by shaking his finger at his sensei. Fed up by his charge's stubbornness, Fu grabbed Naruto and slammed his head into the ground... again.

"Listen well, Naruto. What we are telling you is no lie. The fox was sealing inside of you. When a biju is sealed inside of someone, that makes the person who had the creature sealed into them a jinchuriki. Jinchuriki means the power of human sacrifice. The Fourth sealed the Kyuubi into you to benefit Konoha and yourself. The Fourth wanted you to have the power of the Kyuubi were you could become strong for Konoha." Naruto stopped trying to thrash out of his sensei's grip at his words.

"Each of the other major villages have jinchuriki, and some even have two. Without even one trained jinchuriki, Konoha is perceived as weak. We can't have Konoha seen as week. Danzo-sama has deemed it time to begin your training to start mastering the Kyuubi's power. He expects nothing but greatness from you." Fu then let Naruto up. Fu went to kneel behind his Master.

Danzo watched with amusement the emotions flitting across the child's face until suddenly they stopped. He was glad that Fu's lessons on emotions were coming in so handy.

"You are ultimately faced with a simple choice, young Uzumaki." Danzo intoned solemnly. "You can either try to ignore the Kyuubi inside of you and allow its powers to control you, or you can learn to control its powers for yourself. What do you choose?" Danzo then walked out of the room, knowing that Fu would start the meditation training to commune with the beast.

"Fu-sensei, I... I will do it." Naruto started with a stutter but finished with determination. "I will learn how to use the Kyuubi's chakra, and I will help keep Konoha safe. I am Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuriki of Konoha!" Fu smirked at the earnest answer. Danzo now had his king-piece.

Fu explained how they would use meditation to contact the biju. Fu would guide Naruto through the process and aid him when he reached the Kyuubi. With this plan decided, Fu started doing hand-seals, while Naruto started focusing on calming his mind and only think about talking to the Kyuubi. After several minutes, Naruto found himself in a hallway/ sewer. He looked around and spotted his sensei observing his surroundings with interest. Fu nodded at Naruto to go forward. Naruto started walking.

They continued walking for several minutes until the hallway opened up. Naruto then saw a sight that would stick with him for the rest of his life. A huge cage stood in front of him. The cage literally was about the same size as the main gates of Konoha. _Holy... Wow. This is inside of me_! Naruto then saw what was inside the cage.

Lying inside the cage was one of the scariest sight the young blonde had ever seen. Even Fu was terrified of the sight before him. For inside of the cage, the Kyuubi slumbered. When Naruto and Fu got closer, the Kyuubi lifted his/ its head and pierced them both with a look.

Naruto marshaled his courage and plowed on to get closer to the cage. Step by shuffling step, Naruto came closer to the Fox. He then looked up at the full majestic sight in front of him. _The Kyuubi was huge! No wonder it could decimate the ninja of Konoha_! Fu looked at his young pupil almost in a state of awe. He had to give it to the kid that he had courage.

The Kyuubi finally deigned to take notice of its visitors. He greeted them with an almighty roar that shook the water that everyone was standing in. It then lashed its paws at Naruto. Luckily, Naruto was able to jump back just enough to dodge them, or otherwise his career would have been cut unfortunately short. Naruto looked at the beast in surprise that it would have attacked him. The mighty biju led out a satisfied snort at giving its jailor cause for concern.

"Kyuubi, we come here to discuss terms with you!" Fu shouted. He wanted to get this meeting over with as fast as possible. The longer they talked with the beast, the faster something would go wrong.

"**What do I have to discuss with you puny mortals**!" The Kyuubi snarled. "I** have no concerns for your pathetic lives. Now, get out of my sight!**" To Fu this declaration could spell the ruination of all his Master's plans. Without the Kyuubi's aid, Danzo-sama would find it a much harder task to lead Konoha to a better future.

To Naruto, the beast's reasoning was faulty. He decided to tell it so. "Kyuubi, you are in my body! As long as you are in my body, I will use your chakra! I will become the greatest jinchuriki the world has ever seen, and I will protect Konoha from harm! I will not let any of my friends be hurt, and for that I need your power and your help! So give it to me!" Naruto finished with an even louder shout then he had previously been using. Fu was surprised at his student's stupidness. _That's never going to work; all it will do is piss the creature off_.

Contrary to Fu's thoughts, the Kyuubi took interest the the mortal standing proudly before its cage. _**So this is my jailor huh? Little shit seems to have some guts to stand up to me like that. Let us see how he handles my Will then.**_ The Kyuubi smirked at his thoughts. _**Soon, I will be returned to the mortal world instead of changing cage after cage. **_ The Kyuubi knew that if it gave its chakra to the boy, then its Will would go along with the chakra. Then its Will would overpower the boy, so the Fox would give the kid all the chakra he asked for. It was all part of the plan.

Naruto and Fu were not aware the of biju's thought process, so when a wave of red chakra came and crashed down onto Naruto both were greatly shocked. "**Fine, little jailor, have some of my chakra. Let us see just how much you will be able to control. He he he!**" Naruto and Fu then found themselves sitting back in the room where all the meditation started.

When Fu looked at Naruto, he found that the boy had an aura of red all around him. Furthermore, he now had claws and and deep, dark lines where there were previously whiskers. Fu also saw that Naruto was looking at him very... well the only word he could think of was hungrily. Then Naruto attacked him. Fu understood why the Fox laughed right before they left Naruto's mind; it knew that Naruto wouldn't be able to control its power. Fu smiled, _just as Danzo-sama planned. Now all we have to do is train him until he is able to harness all of its power. The Kyuubi is much too arrogant to think a human will be able to control its power, and it will not realize that Naruto will be able to do just that until too late_.

Fu continued to dodge Naruto's wild attacks. He noticed that there was a lot of power behind each strike, but there was no thought in it at all, just mindless rage and hunger. Fu pulled out the seal Danzo had made just for this moment. He then applied it to the back of Naruto's head when he dodged another wild attack. The seal made the Kyuubi's power recede from Naruto, and allowed him to gain control of his body again.

Naruto felt like he waking up. He looked around and found himself still in the same room where he began his attempt to contact the Kyuubi. The last thing he remembered was that maniacal laugh then here he was. Naruto saw Fu-sensei sitting not too far from him. He looked at him questionably until his sensei gave him a nod.

"The plan was a success, Naruto. Now all that remains is to train you until you can sort out the 'mind' of the Kyuubi from its chakra. Naruto nodded in relief. Apparently he had done right. He then remembered himself facing down the Kyuubi in his mind. He shuddered at his own boldness. _Man, I sure can say some wild stuff when I get worked up_. Naruto got up and walked to his sensei.

"What kind of training will we be doing, Sensei?" Fu looked at Naruto for a second. He then outlined Danzo's plan of training.

"From now on, training will consist of chakra control, physical exercises, taijutsu, and a couple of hours a day of taking the Fox's chakra and learning how to control it. This schedule will continue until Danzo-sama deems you ready to move on to the next stage." He saw the disappointed look on Naruto's face, but he just kept right on talking. "The Academy will be starting up soon, so some things might get dropped in favor of learning to control the Fox's chakra if the Academy covers it enough. Danzo-sama has even promised you a gift if you progress to a certain point in your training."

"Ooh, what's my gift huh?" At this display of childish enthusiasm, Fu narrowed his eyes. The kid still hadn't mastered keeping his emotions in check.

"If you would let me finish..." Naruto looked embarrassed at that, but he immediately stopped talking and let his sensei finish. "That's better. Now as I was saying, Danzo-sama has promised to teach you his very own jutsu when you learn how to control your tailless cloak." Naruto's eyes widened at the prospect of finally learning some jutsu. Though he wondered what a tailless cloak was, he shrugged the question off to focus more on finally being able to learn a jutsu.

"Yatta! I am finally going to learn a jutsu!" Naruto then started dancing in excitement. Fu shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if the kid would be able to ever suppress his emotions completely.

"Danzo-sama said he would only teach you the jutsu after you completely master your cloak, so make sure you work hard, Naruto. Training begins tomorrow bright and early. We have two week until the Academy starts back up. We will be using those weeks to get as much training in as possible." Fu saw Naruto nod with a look of resolution on his face. Fu was glad that the boy was taking his training so seriously. He could only get better from here.

"For the rest of your time here today, I want you to place leafs on various parts of your body. You are to keep them there for at least two hours. The longer you go after those two hours, the more ramen you can have. This exercise is designed to increase your control even when you think you are on empty. If you last five hours, you can have all-you-can eat ramen at Ichirakus. I will be in the other room. Begin!" So saying, Fu left the room and left Naruto to his training.

Naruto on the other hand was cursing his fate. "All-you-can eat ramen sounds great but Fu-sensei had to pick one of the most boring exercises there is." Naruto grumbled to himself. He then walked over to the box that had the leafs in it. Picking about ten out, Naruto set to work. He placed himself in the center of the room and put leaves on his head, hands, feet, and back. Fu had already explained to him the best places to be able to expel chakra. Head, hand, feet and back were the places many jutsu originated, so being able to control chakra from those places would make the jutsu easier to use.

Naruto worked hard. After meeting the Kyuubi and learning that he would start training to utilize its chakra, many would think that Naruto's concentration would be blown to hell, but this was not the case. All these revelations were just feeding Naruto's will to become stronger. The chance for all-you-can eat ramen and a new jutsu might have also had something to do with it.

Naruto ended up winning the ramen because he kept the leaves connected for 5 hours and 20 minutes. Naruto was very impressed with himself, but Fu-sensei just seemed to accept it. Naruto received his money and went off to get his just reward- ramen. After a whopping nine bowls, Naruto declared himself full and left the ramen stand with a happy Ayame behind.

Naruto's training continued. What annoyed him the most though was that it was hardly different than the last month and a half. The only thing different was that now he would practice tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra. He wouldn't even do anything with it. He would just sit and meditate while holding onto it. The first times he tried this, each one ended with him knocked unconscious by Fu. Naruto would let the hatred and blood-thirst control his actions. After the 51st time, he finally started getting a hang on it. Though he still had the occasional mess-up.

The Academy started back up with a vengeance. From lectures to chakra control to taijutsu sparring, the Academy covered it all. No longer was Naruto dead last. He was no where near the top because of his academic grades still suffering, but now he was getting a lot better grades in taijutsu and chakra control. Naruto was now cruising at around 14th place in a class of 27. Respectable for a kid in no clan. Though no one was aware that he was receiving training outside the Academy. Even the Hokage just figured that Naruto actually started studying.

That was not to say that the Hokage was blind. He noticed that Naruto was much quieter around him. When they went out to get ramen, no longer would Naruto shout out his thanks or how he was going to be Hokage. Well, better to say that he only did it occasionally. Sarutobi was initially worried at these developments, but decided they were only bettering Naruto when he saw Naruto's new grades.

After 3 months of constantly trying to control the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto finally showed no signs of massive blood-thirst when he used the tailless cloak. Fu was proud of his student. From their spy's reports in Kumo, Kumo's jinchuriki took about 5 months to finally learn how to control his cloak form without tails. Though the Hachibi's jinchuriki started training even earlier than Naruto, so that could have also been a part of why he took longer.

When Naruto showed up for his training, Fu was again there to meet him. Naruto figured it was time for him to learn his new jutsu. Fu-sense had said that he mastered his tailless cloak a couple days ago, so he figured his jutsu was past due. They walked into the same room that Naruto had first contacted the Kyuubi. Naruto saw Danzo-jiji sitting in the same place as that day as well. Deja vu.

"Ah, young Uzumaki. I understand you have finally mastered the tailless cloak. If I remembered correctly, you were promised a jutsu should you ever master it. Today you will learn your jutsu. Now take this piece of paper and let us see which branch of jutsu you should get." So saying, he held out a piece of paper in his hand which Naruto then took. Naruto looked at it curiously for a second then he looked up to Danzo with a confused look on his face. "Channel chakra into it," was his calm answer.

Naruto did just that. When he finished, he saw that the paper had cut in two. He handed back to Danzo and still had a confused look on his face. Danzo seemed to have a surprised look on his face when Naruto was handing the paper back, but that might just have been his imagination.

"This is interesting. It seems that you have the rare wind affinity. Wind jutsus are generally better suited for close to mid-range combat. There are very few long-range wind jutsus. For this reason, the wind element is often called the battle element. I guess this perfectly suits you then." Naruto smirked at what he thought was praise. He looked at his sensei with pride in his eyes. Fu gave him a nod to acknowledge the look. Danzo noticed this interaction with a frown, but he allowed it to continue because he figured it was something of little consequence.

"You are in luck, Naruto Uzumaki. There are only about two or three wind users in all of Konoha, and I happen to be one of them. The jutsu I will be teaching you is called the Fuuton: Wind Release Stream. This jutsu is a multi-purpose jutsu. This jutsu shoots a stream of wind from the mouth. It is not exactly suited for attack, but if the wind is blown fast enough it will work to bowl over enemies. Another use of this jutsu is to blow away objects from the user. A high level application of this jutsu is to change directions in mid-air. This allows you to dodge incoming attacks." Danzo finished listing some of the ways to use the jutsu to an excited Naruto.

"Thanks, Danzo-jij. This jutsu sounds awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. Fu shook his head while he quickly wiped a smirk from his face. Naruto's attitude was starting to infect him it seemed. Danzo just narrowed his head and wondered if he should punish the blonde in front of him. He decided not to this time. Naruto continued on in excitement not noticing the thoughts of the others in the room. "I will have this jutsu down in no time!"

Danzo twitched but started teaching Naruto the jutsu. "This jutsu does not involve needing to know how to convert your chakra into wind, but it does involve the diaphragm. You will need to gather your chakra in your diaphragm. Concentrate your chakra to protect your lungs from damage first off. Next you will need to use these seals: monkey, bird, horse, and end it on dog. Then you will need to pull in air and blow it out as hard as you can. If I teach you anymore techniques, remember that most of them will end in the dog sign. It might help you remember the hand-signs." After finishing his explanation, Danzo got up and left the room.

Elated, Naruto started practicing his new jutsu. He was disappointed however when he didn't produce anything the first time. Resolving to get some air blowing by the end of the day, he set to training with a will. Fu looked on in amusement as his student worked himself into the ground by continuing blowing his chakra into the air. After five hours of solid practice, Naruto was finally able to make a slight breeze. _Or, _Fu mused to himself_, someone could have just sneezed and made a breeze like that._

"Ok, trainings over for the day, Naruto. You did good. Make sure to concentrate the chakra around your lungs and to breathe out as hard as you can. You will have this jutsu down in no time. Tomorrow, we will be back on your regular training schedule, though I will allot one hour for you to practice your jutsu here. I want you to mainly work on it on your own hours." Naruto nodded because that made sense to him. Why waste valuable training time when he already knew how to do the jutsu. Though it did sadden him because he wanted to learn the jutsu now!

Naruto went home with a bittersweet feeling. On one hand he had a new jutsu to work on, and on the other hand he couldn't do it yet. It was very frustrating to the young boy. Once he got to his apartment, he started working on that jutsu some more. He wasn't able to get much done by the time he had to go to bed, but he was able to progress a little bit.

"What should we teach Naruto next, Danzo-sama?" Fu asked when he and Danzo were alone. Fu hated to admit it to himself, but he was really starting to like his young charge. Naruto truly had the determination to go far in this shinobi world.

"I am wondering if I should allow him to draw more of the Fox's chakra. It might be better to wait for him to gain a little more maturity before he tries to tackle even more of the Fox's will. So far, he is able to keep the Fox's will out of the chakra he is using from it, but Naruto is only using the smallest fraction of the Fox's power. I think I will have him wait until the Academy lets out again for him to learn how to advance the chakra cloak. Now I want you to focus on taijutsu with him. Also teach him tree-walking. If he does well enough, I will teach him another of my jutsu. Also I think I will have him start sparring with some of the Root initiates. This should take him until the Academy lets out for the summer." Fu nodded at the reasoning of his leader. He gave a quick salute and then used shunshin to leave the room.

_The problem with Uzumaki is that I can't use the curse seal on him. That means he could blab all he knows about my organization. If Sarutobi found out I had placed a seal on Naruto, there would be hell to pay. Hell, if he found me talking to Uzumaki, there could be hell to pay. There is also the problem with his emotions. He has too many, and I can't use That method on him. That will definitely send him running to Sarutobi. My best bet is to have Fu suppress any sign of emotion at all times. Though this will probably not make him completely emotionless, it will still have to do for now. The things I do for Konoha_, Danzo thought with a sigh. He then left the room to see that his other members knew what to do for a mission fast approaching.

Not knowing that his next six months had been decided for him, Naruto slept peacefully on. When the Academy let out the next day, Naruto began his new training. Physical enhancement, taijutsu training, the one hour to practice his jutsu, chakra control, and still meditating while drawing on the Fox's chakra were all part of his new schedule.

About two weeks after Danzo and Fu met to discuss Naruto's training, Fu let Naruto meet some of the Root initiates. Basically, they were orphans that Danzo had personally picked to join Root. All done without the knowledge of the Hokage of course.

Naruto saw some boys about his age and older come into the dojo where he was training. He looked at his sensei in confusion before going to greet the newcomers. "Hey. What are you doing here?" Fu then came up behind Naruto and started explaining.

"These are your new sparring partners, Naruto. Danzo-sama felt that it was time you got some fighting experience that would simulate a real fight. That means that there will be no holding back. The battle will continue until the other either can't move anymore or one of you is knocked out." Fu then walked over to the Root kids. Talking where Naruto couldn't here, "What names has Danzo assigned you to use when you are with Naruto?"

The oldest there gave introductions for the group. "My name is Shin. The one on my right is Sai. The one to my left is called Ios, and the one on Sai's right is called Naos." Shin had said all of this loud enough for Naruto to hear. Naruto then walked forward and greeted them all. He then held out his hand for them to slap. They all looked at the hand in confusion until Shin seemed to get it. He slapped Naruto's offered hand which brought a smile to Naruto's face. Naruto then repeated this action with the other three though they still had confused looks on their faces. Shin quietly explained it to them while Naruto went to talk with his sensei.

Fu then called the boys to start sparring. He set Ios and Sai together to start out and let Naruto watch to understand how the sparring was going to proceed. Naruto was shocked at how brutal the boys were being. They knocking the crap out of each other. The match finally ended when Sai ended up slamming Ios's head into the ground, thus knocking him out.

Fu then called Naruto to match up against Naos. Naruto started the match by being very cautious. He used a lot of feints where he would not over commit and get utterly destroyed. His caution didn't serve him very well in this match though. Naos saw through all of his feints and delivered a straight up charge against Naruto. Naruto was taken off guard and ended up getting knocked to the ground. Naos got on top of him and started punching him as fast as he could.

After a few punches, Naruto finally succeeded in bucking the strong boy off of him. He got up groggy though from all the punches to his head. When Naruto looked up, he saw Naos charging straight at him again. Remembering his first fight with Fu-sensei, Naruto quickly jumped out of the way and attacked Naos when he went past him. Naruto was able to land a kick on Naos's back which sent him flying forward. Naruto then continued with the attack by rushing in to get closer. Left, right, and a head-butt were all countered by an impressive display of manual dexterity on Naos's part. Naruto finally managed to land another hit which rocked Naos's head straight into a concrete wall. Naos dropped unconscious.

Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. He had so not meant to do that. Though this did teach Naruto a valuable lesson about the surroundings used as a weapon, he really didn't feel that he deserved his victory. Fu saw Naruto's look and interpreted it correctly. "Naruto, you are training to become a ninja. Ninja win at all costs. Though you may feel like you didn't deserve this victory, you still won it. You should be proud of your victory, not feel bad about how you won."

Fu and Naruto didn't notice it because of their focus on each other, but the boys who were still conscious in the room were shocked at their trainer's words. That was almost exactly opposite of what they were being taught. The only things their teachers taught them was to mercilessly crush all emotions and feel nothing except enjoyment in protecting Konoha and Danzo-sama. Offered with this new way of thinking, they truly did not know which one to accept.

Naruto's training continued like this for the next six months. Sparring was always an especially brutal part of his day, but he quickly came to thrive in battle. It was truly fun to battle with all of his abilities. All the boys came to realize that in battle, Naruto was in his element. Even though he would lose just as much as he won, Naruto would constantly come up with solutions to even the most difficult problems. When faced with almost impossible circumstances, he would figure a way to proceed. Fu was even more pleased that Naruto's element was the battle element. He knew that when Naruto had completely mastered his wind element that he would be a force to contend with.

Naruto also learned how to tree walk in those six months. It took him about a month of two hours a day of practice to finally get it down, but he felt a great sense of accomplishment when he finally got it right for the first time. Naruto was also able to get the Wind Release Stream jutsu to actually blow more than a gentle breeze. Now he could get it to knock over a wooden training dummy from twenty feet. Naruto could finally feel himself getting stronger. Sparring with people his own age greatly helped his confidence on how strong he truly was.

The time flew by for Naruto as he immersed himself in his training. He really didn't have many friends in the Academy because most of his time was spent with Fu-sensei and those four boys who had become his sparring partners and even his friends. Naruto had also topped out at 10th place in the Academy by the end of the year. He could have been pushing the top spots except studying was really not his forte. Truthfully, he got bored halfway through most lectures. Only lectures that he deemed important would he pay attention to. Most teachers were alright with this because of his performance in other things.

A funny thing to note about Naruto's Academy life was that he didn't score too well on throwing. His usual score was around a 5/10 on kunai and shuriken. The reason behind this was that Danzo hadn't deemed him ready for weapons yet. He was waiting for a special order to come in before he started Naruto on his weapon training.

One person who was starting to spend more time with Naruto whenever he wasn't training was Iruka. Iruka was a teacher at the Academy who was intrigued by the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Naruto was nothing like what he imagined he would be. Iruka was expecting a bloodthirsty young child who would kill anyone who looked at him wrong. What he got instead was a laid-back boy who seemed determined to be a ninja. Most of the times he was a quite kid, but on occasions he would be loud and excited. What really surprised Iruka was Naruto's goal to be Hokage. He was surprised a jinchuriki would want to be Hokage let alone Naruto who really didn't have any friends that he could see.

Danzo and Fu were satisfied with Naruto's growth. Danzo had even consented to start Naruto on elemental manipulation were he could better learn the jutsus Danzo would later teach him. Naruto was progressing quite well on that even though his young age. The last time Fu checked on Naruto's elemental training after two months of practice, Naruto had made a tiny cut in his leaf. Fu was suitably impressed when Naruto had happily shown him his progress.

Fu was told by Danzo to crush any occurrence of emotion in the young jinchuriki, but more and more Fu was forgetting that order whenever he saw Naruto smile. Fu just could not find it in himself to snuff out that inner light in Naruto. Fu could even tell that Naruto's smile was affecting his training partners. More often than not they would smile when they were battle, and Fu had even caught Sai telling a joke about dicks or something like that once. Fu wondered slightly if being in a place with little to no female contact would turn Root initiates gay.

Naruto's training continued, and the six months passed. The Academy finally let out for summer. Naruto was ready for the next stage in his training on how to control the Fox's power. Naruto was eight years old.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

"And make sure that you get all your summer work done. Class dismissed." This was greeted by the sound of children cheering. Naruto allowed himself a smile. He was finally through with the Academy for this year. Now he could kick his training into high gear again. He had been learning from Root now for about a year. In that year, there were obvious benefits. Naruto's new stamina, chakra control, and taijutsu experience were just a few.

Naruto walked out of the Academy with a sense of accomplishment. This had been his best year to date, though it was only his second year at the Academy. Naruto knew that next year the Academy would start teaching them the **Henge**, **Bunshin**, and **Kawarimi**. He couldn't wait to learn more jutsu.

Naruto decided to award himself with some ramen, and where better to get the great ramen than Ichirakus! He had finally convinced Fu-sensei to just open an account there were he could just go and get free ramen whenever he wanted. As he made his way to his favorite ramen stand, Naruto considered his options. He had just been told by Fu-sensei that his training with the Fox's chakra would be advanced as well as his training under different subjects. _Fu-sensei said that a well-rounded ninja is a great ninja, so I guess he wants me to be a great ninja and then onto a great Hokage. Fu-sensei is such a nice sensei_!

Naruto didn't exactly understand what his sensei meant by different subjects, but whatever it was it had to be more exciting then endless chakra control lessons. _Though, I have to admit that the tree-walking exercise is a very handy thing to know_. Naruto continued his musings as he walked through the village. Sometimes he had to just admire the beauty of Konoha. Trees were everywhere and flowers bloomed throughout the village. It truly was a place worth protecting.

Naruto's thoughts were cut short as he spotted his destination. Dodging through the crowd, Naruto made it to the front of the ramen stand. "Hello, Oji-san and Ayame-chan! I need some ramen!" Naruto declared with a smile. Even though Danzo-jiji frowned on him showing his emotions so much, Naruto could never not smile when it came to his favorite ramen stand and the people who owned it. They were two of the first people who ever acknowledged him.

"Sure thing, Naruto. Coming right up." Ayame called out. She then busied herself around the stand cleaning up whatever seemed out of place. She also served other customers when their orders were ready. Finally Naruto's order was placed before him. He gave Ayame a bright smile in gratitude before digging in with gusto. After finishing his fourth bowl, Naruto declared himself done for the day. After seeing the shocked faces behind the counter, Naruto gave them an embarrassed smile.

"Got to get some training in today, so I didn't want to eat too much. Though I will probably be along before the night is out to have some more of your delicious ramen. Have a good day!" So saying, Naruto left the stand to shouts of good-bye from the Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku.

Naruto made his way through the rigorous path to gain access to the secret base. _Ha, secret base, I get a laugh out of that every time I think of it. I, Naruto Uzumaki, get training at a secret base. Priceless_. The problem with the whole secret part was that it still took Naruto around thirty minutes to get to the base which really annoyed him every time he had to go. Since he went practically everyday, this fact annoyed him a lot.

After arriving at the base, he went straight to the dojo. As usual he found his sensei, Fu, waiting there for him. He quietly shut the door behind him and went to kneel next to his sensei. Calmly grabbing the tea laid out for him, he busied himself by putting sugars into it to sweeten it while waiting for his sensei to tell him today's training schedule.

After a minute of waiting, Naruto started drinking the tea. _Needs more sugar_, was his thought. He placed two more cubes of sugar into the tea and tried it again. _Ahhh, just right. I really wish I could make tea like this at my place. Maybe I should ask Fu-sensei to give me the formula_. Sensei and student sat there quietly. The only noise would be Naruto occasionally slurping his tea. Naruto noticed his sensei didn't slurp, so he tried not to. Though he wasn't really successful in his endeavor to stop slurping.

After ten minutes of peace and calm, Fu finally decided to get down to business. He turned to his student and said, "So far, you have mastered the tailless cloak. Tomorrow, you begin to learn how to control a cloak state with tails. This will be harder because more of the Fox's Will will leak through, so this will require more control on your part to be able to still use the chakra. Danzo-sama decided to wait until you were more mature, that is why we didn't start teaching you this six months ago." Naruto nodded solemnly at the words. He was slightly worried about using more of the Fox's chakra. It took him a long time to learn how to perfectly use what he already did. Who knew how long it would take him to master even more power, but he would do his best and he wouldn't give up. He was Naruto Uzumaki!

Fu continued, "Today you are not going to do any physical training. This is in preparation for tomorrow. We don't want you tired out before you start learning how to control even more of the Fox's power." Fu said this with a slight smile. The smile took Naruto off-guard because he had never seen his sensei smile at all in a whole year. Naruto returned the smile with one of his own.

"Also since you will probably be busy trying to control the Fox's power for a while, Danzo-sama has decided to allow me to teach you a new jutsu. This jutsu is called the **Fūton: Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). It is like the **Wind Release Stream** except this jutsu is designed for a wide range. The **Wind Release Stream** is supposed to produce a very dense and narrow wind that will blow you away from a position if you are in the air. Your **Wind Release Stream** truthfully is not dense enough or narrow enough for that yet, though. You need to work on that, by the way." Naruto sweat-dropped at the added comment.

"The **Fūton: Daitoppa** is a jutsu that blows a strong gust of wind. It is more of an attack jutsu then anything else, though you will have to advance it to a level that can knock over trees for it to be very effective. The hand signs are tiger, ox, dog, rabbit, and snake. A little long but that really shouldn't hinder you much. Go about this jutsu just like the **Wind Release Stream**. Concentrate your chakra to your diaphragm and around your lungs. Inhale and allow your chakra to mix with the air and then blow out. This should produce a wind. The more chakra and control you have put into this jutsu, the greater the outcome." After finishing his speech, Fu went back to kneeling and drinking tea. Naruto knew that was his cue to start practicing.

Naruto began working on his new jutsu. He was excited to learn another jutsu even though he was apprehensive about the Fox problem tomorrow. His excitement won out, and he threw himself into training his new jutsu with great zeal. He kept up the training with Fu-sensei to watch over him for the whole time he was at the base that day. A grand total of about six hours. By the time he needed to head home, Naruto was able to produce a wide wind that could fill the whole dojo. The problem was that the wind was only strong enough to make a few pieces of paper flutter. The other problem was that he was extremely exhausted from all the chakra use.

Naruto went home that day with extreme reluctance. Fu finally had to kick him out and make him go home because he wanted to practice his new jutsu until he fell unconscious it seemed. Naruto was a little obsessive when it came to new jutsus.

Naruto did as he promised earlier and made a stop at Ichirakus on his way home. They were glad to see him and even happier when he ordered a staggering eleven bowls of ramen. If nothing else, Naruto was very good for their profits. That day alone he had fifteen bowls of ramen from them. The Ichiraku duo went home happy that day and many other days. Of course, Danzo thought his plan was going a little too well. He was paying the equal of a D-rank mission a day in ramen alone. He comforted himself in the thought that he would have an almost emotionless jinchuriki under his direct command... he hoped. _Brat better be worth all the expense I am paying for him._

The next day dawned bright and early for Naruto. Out of the bed at seven, he spent just enough time to have his morning tea and cereal. Not the best combination but it worked for him. Stopping to water the new plant he had bought the other day, Naruto made his way to his training dojo. Stopping to say hi at Ichiraku on his way, Naruto made quick work to getting to the base.

The base was located underground. Naruto had to walk all the way to the other side of Konoha through the market district and residential areas until he came to a shop owned by a Root member. The shop was a clothing store, ninja and civilian, with a resort in the back, so it would not surprise anyone who followed him that Naruto was spending long hours there. Naruto had to give a code to the cashier via a series of knocks made while looking through the store. The cashier then flipped a switch that opened a hidden door in the corner of the store that had all orange. It was placed in that corner because many people didn't go to that section of the store. Naruto went through the door and down some stairs to get to the base.

Naruto found his sensei and Danzo-jiji waiting for him in the dojo. He was not exactly surprised because Fu-sensei had told him they would be upping his Fox training. He went into the dojo and knelt down next to his sensei and grabbed the offered tea. Sweetening it until it was just right, Naruto waited to hear how he would begin his training.

"Now that the Academy is out, I believe it is time that your training be expanded while we have the time. The new training you will receive will be on seals, and you will be tested to see if you have any inclination to be a sensor ninja. Although most of your time will be focused on controlling more of the Fox's power, you should not slack off in areas you have already covered. Fu has told me that you have not completely mastered the jutsu I gave you, so I want you to have completely mastered that by the time the summer is over. Remember that you are trying to make a dense, narrow wind that is strong enough to blow you away from a position." Danzo then sat his tea down.

"Now training to control the Fox's chakra will consist of you fighting against an opponent who is much better than you. You will assume the chakra cloak and battle. The anger you feel at the opponent because of the battle will make you subconsciously draw more of the Fox's chakra. I suspect that you will rampage at first, but you will be beaten down until you start gaining some control. I think I might even take some practice by battling against you." Naruto was surprised because he didn't think Danzo-jiji could fight because of having one arm and one eye. _ Guess I was wrong about the old man._

When he saw the nod to begin, Naruto started drawing on the Fox's chakra. Soon a red haze of chakra enveloped him. Nowhere was the massive bloodlust that had first appeared when Naruto was just learning how to use this chakra. Danzo nodded, satisfied with progress so far. _If only Sarutobi wouldn't meddle, I could have this boy be a perfect weapon in no time. Damn that man_! Naruto looked at his sensei who was setting his tea down and getting up. Fu then beckoned Naruto to attack him.

Naruto charged forward and began the battle with a leg sweep. Fu dodged it by jumping up. Fu knew he was actually supposed to try in this battle, so he upped the pace. Fu landed and delivered a massive uppercut to Naruto's jaw. Luckily the Fox's chakra cushioned the blow a bit, but it still sent him flying to land hard on the concrete ground. Naruto shook the blow off and got back up. He looked around for his sensei, but he didn't see him anywhere. That was when he felt a kick connect with his side. This kick lodged him squarely in the wall. Naruto was growing slightly angry that he couldn't even seem to see his opponent. In his anger, he drew a little more of the Fox's chakra, and then he drew a little more after that when he still couldn't see his opponent. He finally drew enough for a tail to start to form from the chakra cloak.

Danzo nodded in satisfaction at seeing the first tail form. Now all that was needed was for Naruto to control his powers in this form without drawing on too much power and sending him into a more dangerous state with more tails. Danzo knew that too much power now would definitely be a bad thing.

Fu watched in fascination as his student seemed to grow even more feral looking with the influx of more demon chakra. With speed that was at a level of some genin, Naruto charged at Fu. Fu was disappointed that Naruto was doing the standard charge and destroy strategy again. Fu could also sense the killing intent saturating the air. _Seems like Naruto can't control this new level of chakra. _

Fu quickly went to work on stopping Naruto's rampage. He delivered an astonishing display of powerful strikes that left Naruto unconscious. He then walked over to the side of the room and picked up one of the ten buckets of water left there for just this purpose. Fu poured the water onto Naruto's face to wake him up. Naruto woke up sputtering and angry. Danzo watched as he calmly sipped his tea.

"You let the Fox's Will control the power. You have to control the power! The only way you will ever get better at this is to block out the Fox's Will. You have to be strong enough to force its Will away from the chakra. Now, try it again." Naruto tapped into the Fox's chakra again. Like the first time, Naruto was only able to assume the tailless cloak at first. After a few minutes in battle though, Naruto was once again using the one-tail cloak.

**Flashback**

"Most likely, Naruto won't be able to just go to the one-tail stage for the first couple of days or weeks. He is used to only pulling a certain amount of chakra from the Fox. He will have to learn just how much chakra to pull until he gets into the one-tail stage. Also he will have to learn just how much chakra is too much. If he pulls too much of the Fox's chakra, then he will go to the two-tail and higher stage. This is something that should be avoided right now. If Naruto advances too far too quickly, he will most likely not have enough control of the power. If that were to happen, then theoretically the Kyuubi would be reborn." Danzo told Fu when he arrived from overseeing Naruto's new jutsu.

Fu nodded his head in agreement. He then left the room at Danzo's nod of dismissal to spar with Torune. Torune was another Root member whose skills in taijutsu were close to Fu's. For this reason, they often sparred together to keep themselves sharp. Danzo-sama did not look well on a dull tool.

**Flashback off**

Fu watched closely to see if Naruto had anymore control this time than the first time. Sadly, it seemed that he did not. Naruto again chose to clash in a straight-forward and reckless manner. One thing Fu noted was that Naruto now had claws. If Naruto gained enough control, then those claws could come in very handy in a taijutsu match. Claws and the use of the wind element would turn the boy into a verifiable nightmare to match in close combat.

Fu did a quick shunshin to appear behind Naruto. He was surprised, however, when Naruto immediately turned around and tried to backhand him. _Oh ho, seems Naruto might pass the test to become a sensor ninja after all. Looks like I might be able to teach him something beyond chakra control and taijutsu after all_. Fu decided to block the blow, but he was not prepared for the sheer weight behind the attack. _Interesting! When he uses the Fox's chakra, he is much faster and stronger than he normally is. _

Fu quickly disappeared, this time by pure speed, and knocked Naruto out with a flurry of blows to the head. He caught his student before he fell to the ground. Placing Naruto softly on the ground, Fu went to report to Danzo-sama before he got the next bucket.

"Danzo-sama, it seems that when Naruto uses the Fox's chakra he is much stronger and faster. It also seems that he might have an inclination for being a sensor." Fu bowed as he gave his report. It wouldn't do for the master to see anything but respect and an emotionless face.

"I saw" was Danzo's answer. He had to admit to being intrigued by the jinchuriki. If this was how strong the boy was with one-tail, then how strong would he be with the full nine. He had seen how some jinchuriki were able to assume the full form of their beast in his spy's reports. _Will young Uzumaki be able to take on the appearance of the Fox as well? _Putting those questions aside for now, he signaled for Fu to wake the boy.

This cycle continued for the rest of the day. Naruto would draw on the Fox's chakra until he reached the one-tail state. He would battle to control the power. Most of the time, though, he lost and went into a frenzy which Fu-sense had to knock him out of. Occasionally Danzo-jiji would be the one to knock him out of his rampage. Only a couple of times was he able to control the power for over a minute. Naruto went home that day very frustrated.

When he reached his house, Naruto went to water his plant. After satisfying that the plant was alright, he went into the house to sleep. Before that though, Naruto wrote down the training he had done that day in a journal he had started. Besides the journal was a large scroll that he had convinced the Hokage to give him. Inside the scroll were two jutsu. Naruto had decided that whatever jutsu he had would be placed in the scroll. _You never know when you might want to refresh your memory or have a kid_. Naruto fell asleep to these harmless musings.

Naruto got up the next morning glad to start a new day. He rushed through breakfast, and started on his way to some quality training. He only found Fu-sensei waiting for him that day. His sensei beckoned him over to a desk that had been installed in the dojo. Naruto was confused because there really shouldn't be a desk inside a dojo. It just wasn't right.

"Before we begin your jinchuriki training, Danzo-sama deemed it appropriate to begin your study of Fuinjutsu. Fuinjutsu is the study and use of seals. Seals are a supplementary asset to any good ninja. There are two major seals holding the Kyuubi in place inside of you." Naruto got wide-eyed at that. All that was needed to seal something as big as the Kyuubi were a few little seals? Fu continued his explanation, "The power to hold a biju is just one aspect of sealing. Jutsu, weapons, and elements can also be sealed into things. A prime example of this is the sealing of a kunai into a piece of paper. Or if not paper, a good Sealer can seal something into someone's very skin."

"You interested yet, Kid?" Naruto quickly nodded his head in a positive manner. To say he was interested was a slight understatement. Naruto was downright giddy to start learning how to seal.

Fu hated to ruin his student's happy dance, but he had to admit to a certain enjoyment from the horror-stricken face that came soon after. "Though of course, you would only be able to do some of the things in Fuinjutsu after ten or so years or more of constant study. Fuinjutsu is not an art for people who whine or quit. It takes dedication to get anywhere in Fuinjutsu." Fu was right about the horror that appeared on Naruto's face when he heard ten years. He almost brought a smile to the man's face.

"Well, I will start you off with the generic sealing technique. This technique will allow you to seal things in a scroll. The farther you advance in the art of Fuinjutsu, the more items you will be able to seal in one scroll. You will also be able to seal water or other elements later on. Right now, you should start on trying to seal a small pen in a scroll. Once you are able to do this, try to seal two pens. Here is an instruction sheet that guides you on how to seal things. I am here if you need my help. Have fun." Fu then went over to his tea that was starting to cool down. He performed an E-rank fire jutsu to heat it back up and picked up the book that was sitting by the tea. Pretty soon he was engrossed in his own little world.

Naruto, on the other hand, was having a tough time. He seemed to be following the directions perfectly, but no matter what he did, the stupid pen wouldn't disappear. He thought about asking his sensei for help, but he didn't want to ask for help ten minutes into trying. Naruto Uzumaki was not a quitter or a whiner. He would achieve success on his own merits!

Seconds changed to minutes and minutes changed to hours. After two and a half hours, Naruto finally succeeded in sealing the pen into a scroll. "Yatta! I finally did it. Take that you stupid pen! Who's the man, I am the man, and your just a stupid pen! Ha ha ha and one more Ha!" Naruto turned around to walk off when he saw Fu-sensei looking at him. This was no simple look, this was the Look. The one that said he had done something really wrong. Naruto could only offer up a half-hearted laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

Fu shook his head at his student's antics. Naruto hadn't been that bad since the first day he showed up here. Fu ideally wondered what made the boy be so emotional. He quickly dismissed his concerns as he thought it time to begin working on Naruto's jinchuriki training. Before he did that though, he wanted to know if Naruto had it in him to become a sensor. Sensors were very prized on the battlefield for their ability to sense where the enemy was. Many believed that sensors were worth their weight in silver, and any knowledgeable client would try to hire sensors over regular ninja. If Naruto did turn out to be oriented to be a sensor, it would please Danzo-sama greatly.

"Naruto come here for a second. I want you to take a test to see if you can do something." Naruto walked over to his sensei. He was curious at what Fu-sensei was talking about, but he figured it could only aid him. "Ok, Naruto. I want you to close your eyes. Use the ram seal to focus your chakra. Focus it tightly within you. Then use your chakra to _see_ outside of your body. Try to do this for several minutes then tell me what you feel." Fu shut-up and left Naruto to his concentration. After six minutes, Fu was about to give up on the exercise, but Naruto finally exclaimed in surprise.

"There is something blue right there, Fu-sensei!" Fu looked to see where Naruto was pointing and found him point at him. Fu smiled because Naruto's eyes were still closed. That meant the kid really did have a chance to be a sensor. Though the time it took Naruto to finally find his chakra could possibly mean that Naruto wouldn't be the best in the field, it was still a talent worth cultivating.

"You can open your eyes now, Naruto. You did very well. That blue thing you sensed was my chakra. You could very well have a talent for sensing jutsu, Naruto. I will make sure to teach you a sensing jutsu when you finally master your one-tail cloak. Does that motivate you into working a little harder, huh?" At Naruto's grin, Fu wondered if he was doing wrong by his Master. He knew that Danzo-sama wanted all emotions to be bottled up and destroyed. The problem was that Fu just could not bring himself to do it. _I must be losing my edge. If Danzo-sama finds out, I will be quickly disposed of. Danzo-sama has no use for weapons who lose their edge_.

After that Fu and Naruto went into a brutal spar designed to allow Naruto to control the Fox's chakra. Naruto could still not hit his sensei, but he was getting better at holding onto the Fox's chakra. He could now hold it for a minute and forty-nine seconds before he went berserk.

Naruto's life went on. Between training and ramen, Naruto found himself doing very little. He was taking care of a plant now, but that really didn't take much time out of day. He had managed to get the tea formula from his sensei, so he could now brew tea for himself whenever he wanted. Naruto had even made it a habit to take the pitcher and share some of the tea with his neighbors. They seemed very appreciative. One had even offered to buy the formula off of him for a surprisingly high amount of money. Naruto had declined because he didn't think it right to sell a gift.

Naruto found himself putting his new knowledge of fuinjutsu to use. Didn't want to carry something, seal it. If he found something too heavy, seal it. Sealing something became almost second nature to Naruto that summer. The greatest use he found for sealing stuff, though, was if something caught his interest. Almost anything that really interested him was immediately sealed. Naruto wanted to move on to creating explosion tags, but Fu had quickly informed him with a sigh of relief that his skill was not yet high enough to create explosion tags. This fact led Naruto to trying to seal as many items as he could in one scroll to advance his level high enough to make exploding tags.

Summer's heat really started to bear down on Konoha. With temperatures quickly rising, Naruto found himself going to a lake ,he had found in one of the training grounds, constantly outside of training. Jumping in, he swam around until he put his shoulders under the waterfall. Naruto had found that the strength of the waterfall would beat down on his shoulders and greatly relax him.

Basking in the peace of relaxation, Naruto drifted more and more underwater until only the top part of his head and nose were showing. While there, he decided to practice that sensing technique Fu-sensei had shown him a few weeks ago. While not being an actual jutsu, the sensing technique was still a legitimate option to use to sense enemies. Though if an enemy decided to hide his chakra signature, the technique would run into some problems. To turn that technique into a viable jutsu would take years, thus the reason why many ninjas had certain jutsus that helped find enemies much easier.

Naruto stayed in the same position for ten minutes before he found someone. He felt a blue essence at the very edge of his perception. Naruto decided to go and confirm his technique's success. Quickly swimming to where he left his clothes and towel, Naruto made himself proper before setting off.

He walked for a few minutes until he reached a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a stone monument. Naruto didn't know what it was, but he was glad to see his technique was correct again. In front of the stone was a silver-haired man. He seemed to be just standing there, but Naruto figured it wasn't his business. Turning to leave, Naruto was startled to find that the man wasn't standing in front of the stone anymore. He was walking towards him!

Naruto really didn't know what to do, so he decided to just wing it. "Hey, masked-man." Naruto hailed as he walked past the masked person.

"Yo" was his answer. Naruto continued walking and decided to stand before the stone just like that man had just been doing. Kakashi looked back with an eyebrow raised. He shrugged the encounter off as just a weird occurrence. One thing that bothered him though was how a young boy like that moved with a body that told of hard training. He didn't think training came that hard at the Academy. Kakashi eventually banished those thoughts from his mind, not to think of them again for another couple of years.

Naruto noticed that names were placed all over the stone. He didn't get what any of the names meant, so he decided to head home. He was just glad that his sensing technique seemed to work really good. Naruto decided to work on it whenever he was alone at home. That way he could start training his sensing ability early. Fu-sensei always said the more training earlier in life, the better a ninja you would be. _Wise man, Fu-sensei is._

A few weeks after the encounter at the stone, Naruto was once again trying to gain control of using the one-tail cloak. He was on the edge of mastering it, he could feel it. He was able to almost completely control the chakra cloak throughout the spars. The problem he still had was that he would rampage if he saw something that really pissed him off. That was why a man in a mask was casting genjutsu after genjutsu at Naruto while he had his cloak activated. Naruto had done his best ever today. He had managed to retain control even after the 4th genjutsu which showed him dead bodies.

Danzo-jiji signaled Naruto to attack. While Naruto was attacking, Danzo nodded to his subordinate to begin the jutsu. _Its always nice to get a little light sparring in every now and then. Too bad this kid is only at this level right now. Though I must admit that he is making steady progress_. Danzo saw that the genjutsu had just taken place because of Naruto's wild misses. This genjutsu was designed to make the target misjudge the distance between an opponent. This would result in the target missing again and again. This would lead to great frustration. _If Naruto can retain control without allowing the Fox's Will to take control after this genjutsu, then he will have mastered the one-tail cloak_.

Naruto kept getting angrier and angrier after every miss, but not once did he allow the Fox's Will to seize control. Danzo smirked. It seemed that Naruto had finally mastered this level of training. _Damn, now I am going to have to teach the brat a new jutsu. _Sighing at the jutsu obsessed kid, Danzo halted the fight. The Root member in the corner let the genjutsu dissipate. Naruto who was about to throw a punch saw Danzo-jiji holding up his hand in the gesture for stop. What confused Naruto was that Danzo-jiji was five feet away than where he thought he was. Then he realized that he was caught in a genjutsu.

"You have mastered the one-tail cloak, young Uzumaki." At this Naruto's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. He was about to shout in joy before he remembered that Danzo-jiji didn't like that. He assumed a serious expression on the outside, while on the inside he was dancing for joy.

"Before you begin your training to master the second tail, I think I will have you experiment a little. If you can control the killing intent of the Fox, then that will be a serious weapon in your arsenal. Killing intent and especially such a high level as the Fox's can end a fight with that alone. If I am not mistaken, the process to master this will be to block out the chakra while allowing some of the Will of the Fox through. It is basically the exact opposite from what you have been training so far. The trick is to learn the balance between letting too much Will in that will turn you feral. You will also need to keep the chakra out were you do not turn out just like you were at the beginning of your training."

"I want to see you have at least a grasp of this concept before I allow you to move on to the second tail. Also I believe that you have some jutsu to learn for mastering this stage of your jinchuriki training. I will decide what jutsu to teach you tomorrow so come prepared. I will allow Fu to teach you the sensing jutsu he promised you today." After finishing, Danzo walked out of the room with the Root member disappearing as well. Fu stayed behind to teach Naruto a new jutsu.

Once Danzo-jiji was out of the room, Naruto let out a whoop of joy. He had finally mastered the first tail in that stupid cloak. All this joy was darkened by the thought of learning the killing intent of the Fox. Naruto really didn't see how he would keep the chakra out but let the Will in. _Maybe I can just channel the Will straight out of my body or something. I mean all I can tell its Will is is a giant mass of hate and bloodlust_.

Fu saw the slightly worried look on his student's face and figured it had something to do with what Danzo-sama had just told him about his next training agenda. Fu decided to distract him with his new jutsu. "Naruto, are you ready to learn a new jutsu or just sit there looking stupid?" Naruto took offense at that statement and complained about it... loudly.

Fu snorted at his student's antics. When he got Naruto's attention back on him, he began his explanation. "The jutsu I am going to teach you is a very handy supplementary jutsu. It is not even really a jutsu per say, but I believe you will find it very helpful. It is actually a clan-based jutsu, so I would advise you not to brag about it too much. This jutsu is from the Yamanaka Clan. Using the seals bird and then horse, this jutsu allows your mind to blot out everything you don't want to think of. This can actually be a huge disadvantage if you use it at the wrong time, but for that sensing technique you already know, this jutsu can increase your capabilities by tenfold. Instead of spending a huge amount of time concentrating on finding the chakra signatures, this jutsu allows you to exponentially cut that time down. Of course, you should also just try to increase your abilities with that technique without this jutsu, but for now, I believe this jutsu would be of benefit for you. Who knows, it might come in handy in different situations."

Naruto looked at his sensei for about a minute without doing anything. He then went and gave him a hug. Naruto couldn't believe that here was someone teaching him a clan's jutsu. Before he started training, he had only three people. Now he had found at least five others. He had four friends in his sparring partners and even something of a father figure in his sensei. He wasn't really sure how to classify Danzo-jiji. Sure, Danzo-jiji taught him jutsu, but at times he seemed kind of cold and aloof.

Fu was surprised. He hadn't had anyone touch him like this in... years. Fu found that it felt... good. Slowly, so slowly, he found himself putting his hands around Naruto's back and hugging him back. Naruto finally found a person who cared for him. It truly was a great feeling. Not to say that others didn't care for him, he just felt closest to the man who was hugging him back right then. Fu decided to break the hug and immediately started the practical explanation on how the jutsu worked.

Naruto listened in fascination at how a person had to channel chakra to certain areas of the brain for this jutsu to work. He listened in fascination, but at no time in the explanation did his smile ever fade. At one point, Naruto even thought he saw Fu-sensei smile back at him. He convinced himself that he really did see it, and not that it was his imagination.

Naruto left the base that day with the widest smile he had ever had in his whole life. His happiness was further bolstered by the fact he had completely mastered the jutsu Fu-sensei had given him. _And tomorrow I get to learn a whole new jutsu! It seems like this is just my week_!

Naruto showed up bright and early. It was so early that Ichiraku wasn't even open yet. Naruto wanted to learn his jutsu and then go for a long swim and then lunch at Ichirakus. Naruto made his way through the base until he was spotted by Root shinobi. One went to inform Danzo-sama while the other informed him to go to the dojo. After waiting five minutes in the dojo, Danzo finally showed up. A little put out that the jinchuriki had decided to show up so early, he nonetheless began the educating.

"After careful deliberation, I have decided to teach you a jutsu that cuts. The two wind jutsu you already have are both basically just gusts of wind. This jutsu will be able to cut your opponent. This is one of my jutsus that doesn't really require much shape manipulation. From seeing your skill at the leaf exercise, I believe you have now progressed to the point where half the leaf is cut. Is this correct?" Naruto nodded in affirmation. He didn't really know how Danzo-jiji had learned that, but he didn't know how Danzo-jiji got most of his information.

The the jutsu I will be teaching you is the **Fūton: Shinkūha** (Wind Release: Vacuum Wave). You will take a deep breath and spin while blowing out. While releasing, compress the released air into a solitary blade of wind. This jutsu will cover a large area around you with very sharp wind. This is where your elemental manipulation comes in. Use all your skill to turn the blade of wind as sharp as possible. The better your elemental manipulation, the sharper the wind. The seals are rat, snake, horse, and dog. Now back up to the wall and watch me."

Danzo then had a Root member set up four training dummies all around him. He then breathed in while doing the hand-seals. When he blew out, a blade of wind came from his mouth cutting all the dummies down. Naruto was awed at the jutsu he was getting to learn. He really didn't understand much about Danzo-jiji, but the man did have some really cool jutsus.

"Remember that this jutsu can reach a significant distance away, so you don't only have to use it on close targets. Also remember than it can very easily kill, so don't put too much elemental manipulation behind it in a spar. Don't want you killing people to early, Uzumaki." With that he left. The thing that scared Naruto the most out of the encounter was that he didn't know if Danzo-jiji was being serious or not. What did he mean by kill someone too early. _I won't have to kill anyone, will I_?

Naruto set those thoughts aside until he could talk with Fu-sensei alone. He decided to test out Fu-sensei's jutsu. Let's see if it can help me learn this jutsu, but first I think I will try it without the **Mind Concentration** jutsu. So saying, Naruto began trying to learn his newest jutsu. After a few tries, he activated his **Mind Concentration** jutsu. He found he had slightly better results when he had that jutsu activated. The problem was that he couldn't use it in combat to help him because an enemy could easily sneak up on him while he had 100% of his concentration focused on his jutsu.

Naruto persevered. He spent hours working on his newest jutsu. When he left at around eleven, he had gained a great deal of knowledge on the jutsu. One thing was that it was very hard to do. It wasn't that it was overly difficult. More like he couldn't really do the wind manipulation good enough. This resulted in his blade being more like a blunt stick instead of a sharp blade. _Going to have to put more hours into my wind manipulation_.

Naruto arrived at the lake he had taken to swimming in. He took a quick dip to wash away the sweat from training. He quickly got out and dried before going to Ichiraku Ramen. Once there Naruto indulged himself in nine bowls of varying flavors of ramen. Naruto faithfully dropped the tablet Fu-sensei had given him into each bowl of ramen. Fu-sensei had said that if he wanted to grow up tall, then he would have to put that tablet in every bowl of ramen he ate outside of the base. _Something to do with the right nutrients, I think_... Naruto ended up back at the lake, practicing his wind manipulation after saying good-bye to Ayame.

The days passed and Naruto continued working on his new jutsu. Danzo-jiji was holding off on anything Fox related for some time, though he didn't say why. Naruto went back to sparring with his four friends for hours on end. Sometimes he would use the Kyuubi's cloak, but most of the time, he would fight on his own to better gain personal skill that had nothing to do with the Kyuubi.

Naruto enjoyed the time he spent with his friends. He even invited Naos to spend the night with him at his apartment. Naos said that he would have to get permission. Naruto didn't exactly understand why he needed permission, but he let it sort itself out on its own.

The summer was finally coming to an end, and the Academy would be beginning soon. Naruto sighed thinking of all the training time he would miss. Fu-sensei had already told him that he would be working on water-walking, weapon training, exploding tags, and the Fox's killing intent during his 3rd Academy term. Naruto was excited to actually use some weapons. He had thought it strange that he hadn't been training in weapons at all.

The Academy started up again. Naruto still hadn't made any friends in his class, but he was hoping this year that he would because his home room class so totally different than last years. While he was listening to the role call, he noticed many clan names. Naruto couldn't wait to make some friends that would help him on his way to the Hat.

One month into the Academy was when tragedy struck. Naruto hadn't seen Danzo-jiji around much ever since after learning that last jutsu, but he had just chalked it down to a missing him around the corner thing. Naruto wondered why he saw Danzo-jiji a lot more after the tragedy. He also wondered why the things covering his eye and arm were different. Naruto wondered a lot of things after the tragedy. The tragedy was, of course, the Uchiha Massacre.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto **

_Italics means personal thoughts_

The day began like any other. Naruto woke up and had some breakfast. After breakfast, he made his way to the Academy. That was were the day started to... slide. At the Academy, he noticed that some of the teachers seemed to be in something akin to an outright panic. When he made it to his classroom, Naruto was sure something had happened because every single teacher was in a frenzy.

Opening the door to his room, Naruto walked into a very quiet room. This was unusual because usually all the kids were talking with each other and being... well kids. Naruto nodded to the teacher and went to his seat. He noticed that Sasuke seemed to be absent today. This was surprising because he had never seen the boy miss a day. Naruto looked to the board and saw the message: shut-up and sit down clearly written. He also saw Iruka-sensei with his head in his hands. _That must be why everyone is so quiet. I wonder what is wrong_. _Oh well, I guess I can just ask sensei later._

Class that day was incredibly awkward. None of the teachers would tell anyone what was wrong even though it was obvious that something was. Well obvious to Naruto at least. Some of the other kids just treated it like a normal day and goofed off. That attitude almost made Iruka have an aneurism, but he persevered and lasted the day. Naruto couldn't wait until he could find out what was going on.

Naruto made his way stealthily to the base. He had stopped caring about the secret part. Now it was just a part of his life to go through all the steps to get his training. It was just one of those things that happened so many times that a person is no longer awed by it. Naruto had also started integrating some different colors into his wardrobe. The orange section of the base's shop was really starting to influence him. He now wore an orange belt to school to go along with the white pants and red shirt. Not many people made fun of him after he beat them up while sparring.

Walking through the Root base, Naruto found his sensei sitting calmly in the dojo. This gave Naruto a boost of confidence. If his sensei wasn't freaking out, why then should he. He walked over until he reached the padding to sit. Taking a seat, Naruto waited patiently for his sensei to speak. Naruto had to thank his training. He could tell that patience was a great thing to learn because Fu-sensei was always being so patient and taking his time in almost everything.

"Naruto, I hope you noticed the reactions of some of the shinobi around the village today." He looked at me to see my answer. I gave him a nod. "What you may not have noticed was what was causing this reaction. Their reaction was caused by the utter annihilation of the Uchiha clan. The only surviver was Sasuke Uchiha. The rest are dead. Itachi Uchiha killed them." The way Fu-sensei said this took Naruto completely by surprised. He announced it like it was just another thing. Naruto, though, was seriously freaking out. _How can one guy kill a whole freaking clan!_

"Um... sensei? How did one guy kill a whole clan?" Naruto asked nervously. He knew now was not a time to piss anyone off. "I mean, wasn't the Uchiha Clan one of the most powerful clans in Konoha? How did they all just get killed?"

Fu-sensei looked at him for a little bit. _At least the kid is asking smart questions. Some of the regular shinobi were freaking out about how Konoha was going to be destroyed without the Uchihas. What pathetic dross. _ Fu smoothed out his expression before answering.

"Most of the death marks were from a sword. Initial findings indicate that Itachi killed most of his clan with only a sword. There are hardly any signs of jutsu use. This more than anything show the true genius of Uchiha Itachi. Too bad that it had to come by him weakening Konoha like he did." Fu sighed frustration. _Danzo-sama is most likely going to place every Root member on missions now that the Uchiha were gone. This would result in Naruto starting his career in special-ops a lot sooner than originally planned. _

Fu didn't let any of his thoughts onto his face, but he did decide to push Naruto even harder until Danzo-sama called for him. Making the decision in his mind, Fu decided to start the training.

"Naruto, because of the mass genocide, Danzo-sama will probably put you on some missions sooner than originally thought. In case of this happening, I am going to push you to train harder. Before you ever go on your first mission, I want you to at least know something about how to tap into the Fox's killing intent. I will also introduce you to the weapon that Danzo-sama has picked out for you. Prepare yourself, Naruto." So saying, Fu rushed in with an attack pattern designed to take out someone as fast as possible.

Fu showed Naruto many new attack patterns that would allow him to destroy a body as fast as possible. Of course Naruto didn't realize this fact, so he thought they were all really cool attacks. Fu also helped Naruto on his kunai and shuriken throwing. Having never seen personalized teaching on the art of throwing before, Naruto was able to improve at a decent rate.

It should be noted that Fu never once took it easy on Naruto. Every spar the two had was a no-hold barred fight. Fu did not hold his punches. Fu did not hold his kicks. If Naruto left his crotch open, Fu would take it even though the pain wasn't as bad for Naruto as it would be later on in life. By doing this, Fu was preparing Naruto for the real world. In actual combat, ninja would never hold back. This lesson was driven deep into Naruto's mind. Fu also actually started correcting Naruto on his emotions. Fu told him that he could be as happy as he wanted inside, but to absolutely never let those emotions out at the wrong time.

To Danzo the wrong time would be anytime, but Fu said the wrong time was in combat. Fu also taught him that the wrong time could be on a whole mission if the mission parameters were of the diplomatic or assassination field. It also helped Fu's case when he taught Naruto about the First and Second Hokage. Both were deadly in combat but relaxed outside of it.

After starting to up Naruto's training, Fu finally brought out the weapon Danzo-sama had picked out for Naruto. The weapon was a kusarigama. The chain reached about ten feet at its longest. Danzo-sama had the whole thing created from chakra conducting metal, hence the long time until Naruto could get it. Danzo-sama had concluded that with Naruto's wind affinity plus his claws, the main thing Naruto needed in battle would be a little range. The kusarigama provided for this. Suffice to say, Naruto was ecstatic at his 'cool' new weapon.

For the teaching of the kusarigama, Danzo 'acquired' someone to teach Naruto. Two hours of everyday were spent learning all the finer details on the use of the chain and sickle. Naruto learned how to use the weighted end to crush whatever he aimed at. He learned how to use the chain to steal weapons from an opponent. Naruto also learned how to throw the sickle and to use the sickle in close combat. Naruto routinely wrapped most of the chain around his waist and wore it as a belt, focusing more on using the sickle as a close-combat weapon. This provided a great surprise to people when sparring when Naruto would suddenly unhook the chain and send the sickle or weight flying at them.

Naruto grew quickly under this brutal regiment. He perfected the jutsus he had already been taught and even learned how to use his claws effectively in combat. Danzo was usually watching and assessing Naruto's progress. After finally judging his skills adequate for a simple mission, Danzo made arrangements for the Third to be kept... unaware of Naruto leaving the village for a night. He finally decided to send the boy to get his first kill. It was two months after the Uchiha massacre.

Naruto was led into a room that he had never been in before when he came to Root that day. Fu-sensei had hinted to him that he would be given a mission soon, but he didn't know how long soon would be. Naruto was excited. He couldn't wait to get an actual mission. He had even been told that Danzo-jiji would get someone to **Henge** into him and attend the Academy for him. _How awesome was that_!

"Naruto Uzumaki," Danzo called to the arriving jinchuriki. Danzo had judged the best approach to act like killing was normal, which it was. "Your mission is to assassinate Jio Heiz in the capital of the Land of Fire. This man has been trying to get a motion passed that would eventually lead to cut-backs in the ninja program. This can't be allowed to happen. Your job is to not be caught while simultaneously killing Heiz. You are also tasked to burn his house down. He has no protection, so this should be an easy job of a person with your skills. You are dismissed." Danzo then went back to talking to another of his subordinates like ordering an assassination was an everyday thing.

Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't believe it. Danzo-jiji ordered him to kill someone! Him! Naruto honestly didn't think he could do it. He had never thought he would actually have to kill someone. So what if the definition of a ninja had killing somewhere in it. Naruto realized that he had vastly underrated the job of ninja.

Fu saw his young disciple with a very scared expression on his face walking down the hall. Fu knew that Danzo-sama had ordered him to attend Naruto's first kill, so it was quite easy to guess what the problem was. Knowing what had happened, Fu decided to cheer the kid up with some ramen. Ramen always cheered Naruto Uzumaki up. It was quite a funny thing to watch. Though it was cause for worry if someone ever tried to bribe Naruto by way of ramen.

"Naruto," Fu called out. "Follow me." So saying, Fu led his seriously messed up in the head disciple down the corridors. They came to a door that Naruto recognized as containing some of Root's armory. Fu led Naruto into the room and started looking around for some supplies. Naruto watched him in a daze. It was easy to tell the poor boy was in shock.

"Naruto, snap out of it." Fu said calmly. He received a blank stare for his troubles. Fu did not like receiving blank stares.

"Naruto, look at me." Fu once again said calmly. For this kind gesture, Fu once again received a blank stare. This was kinda pissing him off.

"Naruto Uzumaki! When I speak to you, you will listen!" Fu delivered this in a louder, stern voice accompanied by a very hard first to the back of the head. That got Naruto's attention.

"What the hell are you doing!" Naruto shouted in outrage. Naruto then realized who he was talking to. His eyes widened as he unburdened himself to his most trusted sensei. "I can't kill anyone! Why the hell is Danzo-jiji telling me to assassinate someone!" Naruto cried out with tears in his eyes. He then broke down into sobs. Fu felt slightly sad for the boy that he was becoming more and more fond of. He knew it was for the best though. To kill is a ninja's duty. A ninja that does not kill is not a real ninja.

"Naruto, I know you think that killing is wrong, but you must understand that every ninja you see has killed someone. I myself have killed many people in my time. Those people include other ninjas, bandits, criminals, and even some innocent people. I do not kill because I like it, though some people do, but I kill for the betterment of Konoha. When I am sent on a mission, I know that Konoha benefits. When I kill, I know that Konoha is a safer place. The one thing Danzo-sama teaches above all others is the love of Konoha. I would easily die for it. The Hokage is the same way." Fu told his young pupil.

Naruto was giving his sensei a horrified yet hopeful look. Naruto then took a few minutes to think about what he had just learned. _If sensei and Hokage-jiji kill people, then it must not be that bad, right? I can do this. I have to believe in sensei and Konoha._ Naruto placed his doubts and fears in a corner of his mind and walled them away. He would not be weak. He would not cry anymore. He would protect Konoha even if it meant killing.

Fu watched the various emotions and thoughts play across Naruto's face. It was a bittersweet moment when he saw Naruto's face firm in decision. Fu knew that a part of Naruto's life was over. No more would he be a little kid anymore. Now he would be a shinobi. Fu was glad that he had seen this moment. He truly liked his student, but he had feared that he would be too weak-willed to pull off the mission. Seeing that look on Naruto's face though, Fu knew that the mission would be a success.

Fu quickly took Naruto to Ichirakus before departing. Naruto ended up eating a lot and talking little. It was easy to see that he was still very worried. Even the owners of Ichirakus seemed worried. They had never seen the blonde that quiet before. They eventually left him to eat his meal in peace.

They set off right before night fell. Taking a secret way out of the village, Fu led Naruto into the forest surrounding Konoha. Naruto was amazed. This was his first time to leave the village. It saddened him that it was to kill someone, but he was resolved to become a great ninja. Great ninja killed other people, so he knew that this was just something that he would have to accept.

Naruto didn't really know what to expect about traveling away from Konoha. He had never traveled long distances before, so he was unaware of one important rule in ninja travel. Jumping from tree to tree for hours on end is boring! All anyone can see is trees, trees, and more trees. Everything was green or brown. There was nothing to do but use chakra and jump. It was incredibly boring. Naruto didn't really like boring. That was why he started complaining after the third hour.

"Fu-sensei, this is so boring." Naruto complained. "Is this how all ninja travel?" Fu looked at the young blonde who hours before was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. He didn't see anything of the sort now. _Though it is possible he is complaining to help dull the thought of what he is about to do,_ Fu mused.

"You better get used to this, Naruto. Danzo-sama told me personally that he had finally gotten someone close enough to the Sandaime to make sure you could go on many more missions in the future. Traveling like this is essential for any ninja life. Of course, we could go faster, but its better to save the chakra for later." This shut Naruto up quickly. He didn't know what was worse: the thought of more missions like this or all the extremely boring running through endless trees.

"Hmm..." Fu teasingly said out loud. "Then again, there are some ninja out there that have learned how to fly through certain jutsu. Maybe you could make one like that sometime in the future." Fu had to give it to himself, he was a genius. This idea could very well be on par with Danzo-sama's recruitment of Naruto via ramen. _ A motivated Naruto is a genius Naruto_ was Fu's thoughts on the matter. Naruto might be able to create a jutsu that would allow Root to fly. The only problem would be if any normal person would be able to do it. Naruto's chakra reserves were already quite high.

Naruto was amazed at the idea of ninja flying. He couldn't believe something like that was even possible! He had to be able to do that! Naruto then realized that he had a wind affinity. He could so do this! At the age of 8, Naruto's second dream after being Hokage was formed. The dream to be able to fly by using jutsu. Though, he wanted to fly before becoming Hokage. He figured it would help him be Hokage if he could fly around.

After thirty more minutes of boring running, they finally reached the capital. Naruto was given his first look into where the Daimyo ruled the Land of Fire. He had to admit to being impressed. Samurai patrolled the walls of possibly the biggest place he had ever seen. He figured it was bigger than Konoha by a decent bit. Naruto had no idea that a town of this size existed. He was not a well-traveled boy.

Fu slowed Naruto down from rushing straight through the gates. The kid had completely forgotten his mission by now. Fu looked through the night to see who was on guard. Danzo-sama had permanently paid off a guards who took the shift from 11 to 6 in the night. This simple fact made it quite easy to sneak into the capital whenever someone from Root wanted to. Finally spotting the people he was looking for, Fu led Naruto to the gate. Why use stealth when greed would work just as good.

Passing under the portal, Naruto saw his sensei flash something to the guards. He saw them nod briefly before looking back into the night. Naruto guessed that his sensei had something on him that identified him or something. Naruto really had no clue what standard procedure was. If he did, then he would have known that shinobi coming to the capital were supposed to check in as well as having a legitimate reason for being there. If there was no mission or no reason, they could usually find themselves on the receiving end of a sword. Naruto, alas, was unaware of all of this.

The two made their way through the surprisingly packed streets. Even though it was about midnight, there were many people still on the streets. Naruto was amazed. He had never seen so many people just doing nothing. It seemed like every other person on the street was just ideally chatting with someone else. In Konoha, most people had a place to be and didn't waste time in between. There were also ninja using the roofs constantly. Here there was none of that. People just seemed to be relaxing. It was a novel experience for Naruto.

Fu finally spotted the home where Naruto's target lived. Fu was extremely glad that Naruto was given an easy mission. Even though the target was trying to create problems for the ninja program, it would take many more years before the person's bill got anywhere near the Daimyo. This mission was mainly to get Naruto used to the thought of killing. The dude didn't even have a wife. Naruto could probably just stroll in and kill him, but Fu was going to make sure that Naruto followed all the steps to the letter. It would not do for the boy to learn bad habits. Fu placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and pointed him to the house of the target.

Naruto gulped when he felt sensei's hand drop onto his shoulder. It meant that it was time to work. He really didn't want to do this. Sighing to himself, Naruto prepared himself for his mission. He double-checked to see that all his weapons were in place. He made sure that his kusarigama was loose around his waist. Naruto had already decided to use the scythe from it to make the actual kill. He didn't want anyone to think a ninja killed the man by using a kunai. It was better if he made it look like a simple robbery turned wrong.

Wiping the sweat from his head, Naruto made his way towards the house. He started compressing his chakra just like he had been told to so long ago it seemed by Fu-sensei. It had taken Sensei actually telling him that he could sense the chakra from everyone and not just ninjas before he had realized that he could do this. He had originally thought this technique was just for sensing ninjas. Fu-sensei had explained to him how everyone had chakra, just that ninjas had a lot and were easier to detect if they weren't hiding. Naruto focused and ten minutes later, he found a slight amount of chakra coming from someone in the house.

Fu had to nod after watching Naruto. The boy was making sure that the target was actually home from the street with the chakra sensing technique. He was not looking directly at the house but was perusing some of the goods that were being sold on the streets while concentrating on the jutsu. It was still taking Naruto way too long to actually detect chakra though.

Fu started paying attention again when he noticed Naruto heading towards the house. Fu was proud that his disciple was making it look innocent. He had thought Naruto would be given clear signs that he was nervous. Those kind of signs could kill a ninja on a real assassination mission. Naruto seemed to be... calm.

Naruto _was_ remarkably calm for what he was about to do. After spending the whole trip here worrying about actually killing someone, he was finally able to think about it logically. Actually thinking was something Fu-sense and Danzo-jiji actively encouraged. If he didn't think things through well enough for one of them, they would be extra brutal in sparring. Naruto was glad of this fact now. He saw that there were no lights on in the house. This observation led him to conclude that the target was asleep. That worked perfectly for Naruto.

He made his way to an alley that went around the house. The house was a two story and the chakra from earlier indicated that the target was upstairs. Making his way to the back of the house, Naruto was happy to find a small fenced in yard. This would allow him to be unseen by any pesky neighbors. Naruto quickly jumped the fence and went over to the back door. He checked to see if it was locked. It was. Naruto then checked the windows. They were locked too. _Shit, how am I supposed to get in?_

Naruto then looked up. _Oh, you have got to be kidding me!_ Located on the roof was a nice, wide chimney. Just the right size for young boys to climb through.

Naruto let out a small groan before using the tree-walking chakra exercise to climb to the roof. He made sure to stay in the dark as much as he could climbing up. He didn't want anyone to see him after-all. He grabbed the lip of the roof and slowly inched his way. Making sure to stay out of the moonlight as best as possible, Naruto tipped toe over to the chimney. Using all the stealth in his 8 year old body, Naruto lifted himself into the chimney and used chakra to stick to the sides. He slowly made his way down.

Going as quite as he could, Naruto climbed down the chimney. He arrived at the bottom to find he was in the downstairs portion of the house. He got out of the chimney and tried dusting himself off. He really didn't want soot on him. After determining that getting all of the soot off was impossible, Naruto headed up the stairs that were located behind a couch to his right. He walked up the stairs and found two doors at different ends of the halls. Naruto listened closely and heard snores coming from the right one. Naruto quietly slipped down the hall and opened the door.

Naruto saw his target for the first time. Usually, he would have already seen him via a picture Danzo-jiji would have, but Danzo had decided that Fu was enough to confirm the target. This meant that Naruto almost started dying out laughing at the person that was in front of him. A very short man was cuddled up at the wrong end of the bed with a huge doll as his snuggle mate. He was wearing bright pink pajamas and on his face had to be the ugliest night cap Naruto had ever seen. He couldn't even tell what the thing was besides some kind of weird hot pink color.

The only reason that Naruto didn't laugh was because it really hit him then. He was going to kill this person. A person he didn't even know was going to die because he had a mission. Naruto reached for his kusarigama but hesitated while looking at the funny looking guy. He gulped. Naruto could feel the tears falling from his eyes. He slowly made his way to the man asleep in his own bed.

Jio didn't have a care in the world. He was in a dreamless sleep, and he was enjoying it. He then heard a noise that woke him from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see a blade in his face! He saw someone holding it and tried to get up and run. This was doomed to failure though as the next thing he knew was pain across his neck before he nothing anymore.

Naruto couldn't believe he had done that. He had made a slight scuff while walking towards his target. Apparently the man was a light sleeper because he woke up. Naruto could tell that the man was about to either scream or run. He had to do it! He slit his throat. All that blood... blood everywhere. Filling the bed. Naruto turned around and hurled all over the floor. Tears were flooding from his eyes now. He hurled some more. Sobbing, Naruto kneeled on the floor. Five minutes passed, ten. Finally collecting himself, Naruto got off the floor and decided to finish the mission. He had to set the house on fire.

Naruto walked through the house and placed exploding tags in select places that were designed to make sure the house collapsed. He also placed them next to highly flammable items. He set the charge for five minutes. Naruto looked behind him at the house after he walked into the backyard from the door this time. He saw the window to the room that housed his first kill. He almost hurled, but he was able to stop it in time. Naruto then retraced his steps to where he left Fu-sensei. He found him just where he left him. Fu didn't say a word. He just turned around and started walking with Naruto right next to him.

Fu had to say he was feeling quite proud. Naruto had done the mission well. The hurling part was not really necessary, but besides from that, it was alright. Fu did make a note to himself to work on making sure Naruto moved silently. Watching from a rooftop that had clear view into the window that Naruto had noted earlier, Fu made sure to have his report to Danzo-sama ready before they got back to Konoha. A block from the house, Fu and Naruto heard the crashing sound that came from the house falling down. Six blocks away was when they could really see the fire shining in the night. They made their way out of the capital just like they came in.

**Hours later**

Naruto and Fu made their way back into Root headquarters around 4 in the morning. Fu sent Naruto to get some sleep in headquarters before going to make his report to Danzo-sama. Walking through the base, Fu was thinking back to when he was first put in charge of Naruto. He was pissed. He didn't understand why he had to baby-sit some kid. Now about a year and a half later, he had to admit that it was one of the best things in his life. It was... nice to train the kid. Naruto had a drive to train like nothing he had ever seen before. He would practice for hours to get just one thing right. Many a time he had to force him to leave. The harder he was pushed, the more Naruto wanted. It was nice.

Fu had seen something he never thought he would see in Naruto tonight. He saw something he expected the kid didn't even know about himself. The kid was methodical, and he had a great grasp of tactics. He went over all his options, covered all his bases, and only then did he think up a plan. If trained correctly, it could be a major asset to have an operative who was able to come up with an assassination plan off the top of his head like he did tonight.

Knocking on Danzo-sama's door, Fu entered on hearing the enter. He quickly went into a kneeling position before giving his report.

Danzo listened with interest. He was glad that Naruto was able to do so well on his first mission. That just cemented his decision to take on the kid as a personal apprentice. He had been thinking it over for a while, but now after hearing just how much potential the kid had, he knew he was going to take the kid. He would take him, and then he would turn him into the greatest ninja Konoha had ever had. With Root and Naruto-kun behind him, Danzo knew that the Hokage title would be his, and if something unexpected happened, Naruto himself would make a good candidate for Hokage. With Naruto's lineage, it would be child's play for him to convince the Daimyo of Naruto's credentials.

"Fu, I will be taking Naruto-kun as my personal apprentice from now on. You will still be involved in some of his training, but I want his wind manipulation to be much better than it already is. I also want to work on his Fox training. I will be teaching the boy some of my most prized jutsu. When you inform him of this, make sure he know how much an honor this is." Danzo looked off into space for a second before continuing. "I also want you to pick out a girl from the Root ranks and start training them in sensor skills with Naruto. Naruto's sensory skills are too weak for actual combat. Maybe that will change one day, but for now I want you to teach someone who shows talent as much as you can."

Danzo looked at one of his best operatives. The man was changing. He was much better at blending into crowds now because he was able to show more emotions. Danzo knew the change was from Naruto, but he didn't know if he liked it or not. He would watch him carefully and see how it affected the girl he was going to train.

Danzo dismissed Fu before turning around in his chair to stair at the sword hanging on the wall. Danzo used his hand to rub the eye that was covered by bandages. It didn't help him to know that he could manipulate anyone he wanted without suspect now. No, his eye was only a tool for him to reach the position of Hokage. His fear though was that he was getting old. He was now in his sixties, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold the position of Hokage for long even if he did get it. Yes, he would train Naruto Uzumaki very well. If Konoha was going to be strong in the next generation, then they would need a leader who knew all about the roots.

**Next Day**

Naruto made his way to class very tired. He had almost no sleep last night, but he figured that he would be better off actually seeing some of his classmates instead of sending the **Henged** dude. He still wasn't over killing someone like he did last night. The blood that coated his hands. The cut that gaped from the man's ruined neck. It was almost too much for him, but Naruto would not let his sensei down. He would not be destroyed by being an actual ninja! Naruto noticed the Academy's doors were already open , so he made his way to his classroom.

Naruto noticed that there weren't many people in yet when he arrived. He shrugged before going to sit next to Shikamaru. Naruto had to admit that Shikamaru was an interesting character. All he did in class was practically sleep, yet on every test, he only answered enough questions to pass. Naruto, who couldn't pass written tests for much of his earlier years in the Academy, was intrigued by the lazy boy. It seemed like Shikamaru was purposely getting only enough answers to pass, but if that was true, then that would mean that the boy was extremely smart. Naruto wasn't sure if he was ready to believe that just yet.

Naruto decided to test out his theory. "Hey Shikamaru... are you smart?" Naruto asked. This question seemed to waken Shikamaru from his sleep. He also seemed to be quite surprised.

Shikamaru looked up in surprise. He didn't know _how_ Naruto came to his conclusion, but he had noticed that the blonde was changing more and more as the years passed on. Starting the Academy as what could best be called an idiot and at worse completely retarded, Naruto had risen in the ranks slowly but surely. At first it had only been in the physical skills, but lately the blonde had even been doing better on written tests. Shikamaru had to admit to being very curious at what could cause such a change in anybody, especially the boy who everyone thought to be a total loser. Naruto was now ranked third in the class, and he was only ranked that because he only made from 70- 90% on the written tests. Naruto dominated in everything physical.

Shikamaru was so curious about the blonde that he decided to do something troublesome. He told the truth. "When it is not too troublesome." Shikamaru answered.

Naruto smirked at the answer. He, and everyone else, had heard countless times of Shikamaru's use of the word troublesome. Somehow it seemed fitting that Shikamaru would answer his question like that.

Curiosity answered, Naruto turned back to waiting for class to begin. He didn't notice Shikamaru's sweat-drop at his turning away. Shikamaru just lay his head down in defeat. It was too troublesome for him to continue when the boy next to him had already stopped paying attention to him.

Students filled into the classroom slowly. To Naruto's eyes, most of them looked like complete immature idiots. _To one who has had to take life like I, what right do these children have to frolic and waste my valuable time by being idiots. They should be training to be great ninja for Konoha, not being idiots!_ Naruto's thoughts easily showed that a bloody maturity in the body of an eight year old was not a good thing.

Calming himself, Naruto had to admit that if he hadn't killed anyone or had a concrete goal, he would probably have been right there with them in joking around. This was not to say that Naruto didn't enjoy a good joke or prank. It was more like training had become his whole world. Naruto decided to watch out for an opportunity to pull a prank sometime soon. _I wonder if Danzo-jiji will enjoy a good joke on him..._ The smirk Naruto was sporting could best be described as pure evil.

Shikamaru was the only one who saw it, and he had to shiver from the dread he had in seeing that smile. He sent up a prayer for the unlucky soul that had earned _that_ smile. Shikamaru literally thought Naruto would start cackling melodramatically and start spouting out his evil plans. Luckily, or not so luckily for a certain old man, Naruto did neither. He calmed himself down and started planning.

Naruto made his way to his training after class was let out. Naruto was determined to become even stronger. He didn't want anything to go wrong on future missions. _If I become incredibly strong, nothing can go wrong, so I will just gain strength. I will show that Fox who is boss, and I will learn more jutsus. I will make Fu-sensei, Hokage-jiji, and Danzo-jiji proud of me!_ Naruto was a determined kid. Too bad that his expectations of training were going to be totally off once he arrived at headquarters.

Naruto made his way into the base. He didn't really see anyone walking around, but he had come to expect that. A base of highly trained ninja could easily get around without being seen.

Naruto reached the dojo where he had trained for around a year and a half. He opened the sliding door and saw Fu-sensei sitting on a mat with tea like he was usually seated. It was another comforting fact for Naruto. The world didn't stand still because he had killed someone. People still had things that were done day after day and life went on. Naruto gained a smile at the small revelation.

Fu looked at the boy who he had trained for over a year. He was sad to see him changing instructors. Fu knew that Danzo-sama would be the best teacher for the boy, but he had grown attached. He didn't want to let Naruto's expectations down, so he was determined to train a shinobi of the highest caliber to aid Naruto in areas he failed at. Fu slowly stood up and beckoned Naruto to him. Fu placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and guided him over to the desk that had been placed inside the dojo for Naruto to learn seals. Fu began to speak.

"Naruto, Danzo-sama has decided that he will take you on as his apprentice. He has informed me that he will be teaching you his personal jutsu that no one else knows. He will teach you all he knows in the shinobi arts. I hope that you learn well."

Naruto was shocked to say the least. He couldn't believe he would never see Fu-sensei again!

"But Fu-sensei! I thought I was Your apprentice. Why do I have to become Danzo-jiji's when I like you so much. Will I even ever see you again?" Naruto cried. This took unfair to a whole new level. He makes his first kill, and the next day he gets his favorite sensei taken from him!

"This is a great honor, Naruto. Danzo-sama has never taken on an apprentice before. Also, I will still be teaching you occasionally. I will be teaching you more sensor powers and other things deemed important. Don't worry." Fu said with a smile. This being only the second time Naruto had ever seen Fu-sensei smile, he took his words to heart. He wouldn't worry. Trying to muster up a smile, he succeeded to give Fu-sensei the best smile he had ever shown.

Fu kept smiling as he saw Naruto's acceptance of the situation. He had to start working his jaw with his hand though after a minute. That was the most he had smiled since childhood. It hurt his jaw.

Fu then got Naruto up and led him into a part of the base he had never been before. Naruto found himself looking around curiously. If he didn't know better, Naruto would say that they were going even more underground than they already were.

The two eventually arrived outside a door that Fu knocked on before opening. Naruto was surprised to see inside was another training area. The only difference was that this one came complete with grass, water, waterfall, and rocky walls. The room was lit by what looked like mirrors to Naruto. There were beams of lights that did surprisingly well in illuminating the room.

Naruto saw Danzo-jiji sitting around the middle of the room. When they got closer, Danzo-jiji's head raised up to give them a closer look. His gaze was like an eagle's seeing all before it. Naruto stood confidently before the man who was about to become his master. He just hoped to learn some cool new jutsu and become stronger. He also hoped to not be sent on many more assassination missions, but he would succeed if he was given one.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I have decided to take you on as my apprentice. You will do everything I tell you. I will not waste my time on stupidity so don't bring it here when we train. If I believe you are slacking, I will punish you. If you dedicate yourself to my training, you will go far. Don't disappoint me." Danzo then slowly stood up and walked closer to the duo.

"This will be your new training area. You will come here ever day instead of your old one. The only reason you will go back to the old dojo will be to receive lessons from Fu. You are to come here right after the Academy each day, and you are to make sure to run in the morning. If you do not run, you will be punished." Danzo came to a stop right in front of Naruto. Naruto looked into his eyes and saw something that greatly scared him. Naruto saw the eyes of a person that had taken countless lives in Danzo-jiji's eyes. He didn't really like his chances of not getting many more assassination missions after seeing that.

"If you do as I instruct, your path to Hokage could possibly be made open. Work yourself to the bone and dedicate your all to Konoha and you will go far. Come Naruto-kun and begin your training." Danzo turned away and started walking back into what Naruto could now tell was more like a cave area than an actual room. Danzo then stopped, turned around, and said, "And call me Danzo-sama or Danzo-sensei from now on."

Naruto finally got his bearing and, remembering his earlier planning, said, "Of course, Danzo-jiji. Whatever you say." Naruto finished with giving him a big smile.

Fu almost died out laughing at Naruto's antics. He actually did think Danzo-sama would die from the twitching his body went through. Covering his smile as best as he could, Fu made his exit from the room. He had a new student to train.

Danzo was slightly worried at Naruto's smile, but he placed it in the back of his mind. He would train the boy until Naruto could beat almost anyone. With the Kyuubi's and Naruto-kun's power, Danzo could already see himself in the Hokage's seat. His time had almost come. All he had to do was be patient, and not kill any smart-mouthed blondes.

Naruto walked behind Danzo-jiji to learn how to become a strong shinobi. He would not stop until he was the best. The Hat of the Hokage would be his. This he swore on the name of Naruto Uzumaki. He would let nothing stand in his way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto **

_Italics means personal thoughts_

"Aw, man! That was a really boring mission. We didn't even get to really do anything. I wish our target would have hired some ninja protection. But, no! He had to be stubborn and leave that stupid document out in the open like he did." Naruto wined to his friends. Sai seemed to agree with him. Well, he gave a forward nod at least. Maia gave him a small grin.

Naruto was saddened by Sai's lack of response. Just a few months go, Sai would have been right there with him complaining. It was a very tough last two months for Sai. First Naos and Laos both got killed on what was supposed to be an easy mission. Then Sai's other friend who was more like a brother, Shin, ended up dying from an illness. Those deaths hurt Naruto too, but losing someone who was like a brother had really hurt Sai. Naruto was determined to help him through it.

Naruto turned to look at the other member of their team. She was the one that had taken his place as Fu's disciple. When he had first heard that, he had been very jealous. He had almost challenged her even. Logic prevailed though when he actually thought about the situation. It was not the girl's fault that Danzo-jiji wanted him for an apprentice. The girl's name was Maia, or as she always pronounce it: 'Mi'. She seemed to be picky about her name for some reason.

Naruto had started training with her about a year ago. They usually went on missions together. Danzo-jiji had said it was because of how her abilities compared to his. It didn't really matter in the end. Naruto and Maia had quickly become good friends. Naruto really didn't think that Danzo-jiji approved, but he also didn't really care. Danzo-jiji and he had a very complex relationship.

Naruto had come to the realization after being Danzo-jiji's apprentice for a few months that every single member of Root was considered Danzo-jiji's tool. He expected absolute obedience, and if he didn't get it, bad things happened. Danzo-jiji also always seemed to be way too serious. That mindset was passed down to almost all members of Root. For this reason, Naruto had decided to lighten up the place some. Telling jokes, pulling pranks, and even trying to get a peak under Danzo-jiji's bandages every now and then were all a part of Naruto's life in Root. Danzo-jiji didn't seem to appreciate it his hard work unfortunately.

All this was not to say that Naruto didn't like Danzo-jiji. Naruto considered the man to be somewhat of a weird uncle. Danzo-jiji trained him, paid him, and sent him out to kill people. Naruto didn't mind being seen as a tool as long as Danzo-jiji didn't ever think he would go against Hokage-jiji. The only thing he really had trouble with were certain types of assassination. Other than those, Naruto enjoyed his time spent with Danzo-jiji. The man offered a unique view of the world. Some would say a very cynical view, and those some would include Naruto. It was still an amazing experience to see the man fight and talk about the events in his life.

Naruto was starting to believe that he had even gotten under Danzo-jiji's skin recently. The man had _almost_ cracked a smile at one of his pranks. Naruto could practically hear the long underused muscles trying to work. In the end though, the smile never came, but it did give Naruto motivation to try again.

The thing that worried Naruto about being in Root was that Danzo-jiji was dead set on being Hokage. Naruto had made it clear when he first learned of this that he wouldn't be used against the man he saw as a grandfather. Danzo-jiji hadn't really said anything, but the disapproval seemed palatable. Naruto didn't care about the disapproval; the law had to be laid down early on.

Turning his awareness back to his surroundings, Naruto noticed that they were almost back to Konoha. The mission they had been on was a simple snatch and grab. Danzo-jiji had wanted information on a new hidden village that was being built in the Land of Snow. Naruto, Sai, and Maia were sent to gain this information. The mission took them a couple of days to complete, and they hadn't ran into any trouble going there or coming back. It was a great success, if boring.

Jumping through miles of trees everyday to do missions was still something Naruto was trying to fix. The problem was that he hadn't found a way to fly yet. He was still trying every combination of jutsu he could think of though. Naruto was persistent; he wasn't giving up any time soon.

Seeing the walls of Konoha come into view, Naruto started wondering if he should try to graduate early. He knew he could do it. The only thing that would possibly fail him would be his proficiency in the **Bunshin** jutsu or lack thereof. Naruto found it funny that he had many chakra control techniques down, but he still had so much trouble with such a simple technique. He could make a nice looking clone; the thing was that it seemed to die after five seconds. _ Time to talk with Danzo-jiji about this._

The trio passed the tree that marked the secret way into Konoha and went underground. They swiftly came to the gate that was guarded by two Root members at all times. Flashing their identification, they went off to give their report to Danzo. Along the way Naruto pondered the way he had changed over the last two years. The good changes and the bad.

**Scene Break**

Two years had passed since Naruto became Danzo-jiji's personal apprentice. Two years of constant training and missions were now under his belt. He had to honestly say that he didn't like assassination missions. He could do the stealing missions or the destruction missions, but slipping into someone's home and slitting their throat while they were asleep wasn't something he enjoyed. He had done it a couple of time; he just didn't enjoy it. Battles and bloodshed were fine, Naruto enjoyed it more though when he was in an actual fight instead of someone defenseless.

Those two years involved many new things. Two years of learning advanced wind jutsus and wind manipulation. Two years of practicing with a kusarigama. Two years of learning the fastest way to utterly destroy another opponent. Two years of learning how to move stealthily through the night and to walk silently wherever he went. Maybe most importantly though, two years of working with the Kyuubi's power and all that came with it. It was easy to say that Naruto was a decently powerful shinobi in Konoha's arsenal. Too bad only Root members knew of his skills. Naruto was still only ranked third in his class. It was quite a hilarious situation.

Naruto had to confess to being confused by Konoha's system. What he was learning in the Academy was directly opposite of what he was learning at Root. The Academy taught nothing of the real world that he could tell. The best it taught were a few paltry jutsus while simultaneously giving many of the kids a huge ego. The ego came from thinking they were the best thing since sweet tea because they could do three of the easiest jutsu in the world. It was quite funny to the experienced blonde.

Root, on the other hand, taught how to be silent. Danzo-jiji made sure to teach all his shinobi some basic jutsu that would help in moving quickly as well as silently. He also made sure that everyone was adequately trained. No one went out of Root HQ without the requirements necessary for the mission. They stole, killed, and destroyed, but each one of them knew that it was all part of the mission. Academy students knew_ nothing_. That was the not funny part to Naruto. He knew many of his fellow students would most likely die early in their ninja career.

The Academy was one of the things that Naruto had decided to change when he became Hokage. It was ridiculous what it was producing now-a-days. How he, who had completed around 30 successful missions, could be outranked by some pink hair harpy who could do nothing but study was preposterous. Yet the Academy promised just that! The Academy was definitely on his to-do list.

Naruto wasn't really sure how to classify his love of battle. Battling strong opponents was the one thing he most enjoyed on missions. Killing a strong opponent and announcing to the world his competence gave him overwhelming feelings of joy. Naruto honestly didn't know if this part of his personality scared him or not. He had only really scared himself one time, and he was extremely happy when Fu-sensei had managed to knock him out of his fear.

**Flashback:**

A 9 ½ year old Naruto had made his way to the rendezvous site to meet up with his old sensei, Fu. This was the first time they had taken a mission together in 8 months, so Naruto was very excited to work with him again. They would accomplished their mission with ease! All they had to do was get rid of a single guard and kill an old man. The mission seemed beyond simple with Fu's mind jutsus. The problem had occurred when there ended up being slightly more than one guard. There were six in fact, and all of them were ninja.

"Um... Fu-sensei? There seems to be slightly more people here than we were told." Naruto nervously said while rubbing the back of his head. Naruto saw Fu-sensei frowning as he scanned the scene. It was not hard to tell that there had been a screw-up somewhere. Danzo-jiji did not like screw-ups.

Fu focused on his sensory ability to make sure that there were only six guards. Concurring with Naruto's count, they started making plans. Even though the mission specs had changed, the job still had to be done.

"Naruto, I want you to handle the six guards while I kill the target." Fu finally decided. He looked at his old pupil to see Naruto looking at him like he was crazy. Fu chuckled. "Don't be so surprised. You can do this. I have seen what Danzo-sama has been training you in. You can even access the Fox's power if you need to. My suggestion would be to attack from afar, and then close in to make sure they're all dead. Let's go." Fu dashed off to get as close as he could without being spotted leaving Naruto there in stunned silence.

Naruto finally collected himself and set off to accomplish his mission. He didn't know if he could do what he was being asked, but he damn well was going to try. Dashing through the trees, Naruto finally came to the spot where he could target the most of the enemies. It seemed that four of them were playing cards. The other two were in the house somewhere else. Naruto got in position and started doing hand-signs.

Rat → Rabbit → Dog flew Naruto's hands. "**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku**" (Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere) Naruto yelled out. He drew in a deep breath bringing in the wind, and then he let loose. From his mouth were released small balls of heavily condensed wind chakra. Each ball was traveling at such a speed that the enemy had almost no time to react before the bullets were upon them. Only the one in the back was able to look up before he too was ripped to shreds.

Naruto had to admit to being shocked. This was his first time to really use that particular jutsu against flesh and blood enemies. Each ball of wind that struck a man tore through their flesh before exiting on the other side. They then hit against the wall behind the men before messing that up too. Naruto could hear the sound of the wood splintering from where he had launched the jutsu. It was a well-balanced jutsu with a combination of power and speed.

The scene where men were previously playing cards was now decimated. Body parts were strewn all across the porch. The jutsu had such a range and efficiency that Naruto could immediately see why Danzo-jiji liked it so much. Not many people could avoid very fast balls of death heading towards them.

Snapping out of his slightly shocked state, Naruto dashed towards the house to take out the other two shinobi. He could see Fu-sensei heading towards the house from where he had been hidden. Naruto loosened his kusarigama from his belt before taking the sickle into his hands. He passed into the house and immediately ducked when he saw kunai flying towards him. It seemed like one of the shinobi had come out to attack the intruder while the other protected the target. That was perfectly fine with Naruto.

Naruto started out the battle by sending the weighted end of his kusarigama at the opponent. The opponent ducked under it before racing towards Naruto with kunai in hand. Naruto smirked before pulling the chain downwards. This caused the chain to fall on the opponent's neck. Naruto then channeled his wind chakra into the weapon. The result was that the chain took on the characteristics of a very sharp weapon which happen to be on the enemy's neck at the time. The spikes along the chain only enhanced the effect. The chain ended up going half-way through the man before Naruto stopped the chakra. It was a very bloody sight.

Naruto turned away from his fifth enemy down before heading towards where Fu-sensei was signaling the old man and last enemy would be. Fu-sensei was right in front of him before they stopped at a random door in the hall. Fu-sensei signaled for Naruto to lead. Nodding, Naruto burst down the door.

Inside the room was the last shinobi and their target. Right when the door was opened, Naruto saw his enemy completing the last hand-sign for a jutsu. His eyes widened before a plan came to his mind. Quickly throwing some kunai, Naruto rolled into the room. He was just in time because a spear of earth ended up right where he had just been. The kunai missed, but they ended up doing there job by making the ninja dodge to the left. As he, correction she, came out of her dodge, Naruto was there with his kusarigama. Using the sickle, Naruto did what sickles do best; he reaped. The enemy's head went flying.

Naruto looked up to see that Fu-sensei was already done with getting rid of the target. They both made their way out of the house and headed off into the woods without saying anything. Fu was doing it because that was what most Root ninja did: they did their jobs in silence and left in silence. Naruto was not saying anything because he was seriously taking a look at his skills. He couldn't believe that he had just taken out six enemy ninja in minutes. That shouldn't have been possible. He wasn't even using the Kyuubi's chakra!

Fu looked over to his once a time and still sometimes pupil and saw a very disturbed boy. Trying to guess what was causing the kid trouble now would involve too many options so, Fu decided to ask outright.

"What's the matter with you, Naruto. Shouldn't you be glad that we finished our mission even though the unexpected resistance?" Fu noticed Naruto flinching at his words. He was honestly curious at what had gotten the blonde in such a state. Fu hadn't seen Naruto act like this in over a year.

"Fu-sensei... would I be considered a monster for what I just did? I just killed six people, six ninja, with ease! I was even having fun!" Naruto yelled. "How could I not be seen as a monster?" Naruto whispered the last part.

Fu was honestly surprised. Naruto was scared of his own abilities. _I guess it is not everyday that you are shown just how good you are. And the kid is not even eleven yet. I guess I can see where he is coming from. Doesn't mean it is not silly but..._

"Naruto... stop being an idiot." Fu said with no symphony. "Only one of the ninja we just faced was a chunin. The other five were only genin. If they had any experience at all, all four of them would have dodged your Vacuum Wave. You need to try not to shout your jutsu's name so loud. It is a clear give- away. That particular jutsu could become a very strong assassination jutsu if you could use it in utter silence. Not many jutsus are that powerful yet fast. I will admit that you did fine on the close-up fighting though."

"My whole point is that it is stupid to consider yourself a monster for just killing some no-name idiots. Who plays cards on a mission anyway? Anyway, stop your stupid thoughts. If you get scared of yourself, then you can never get stronger, and trust me when I say there are some people in this world that can kill those six in a second along with blowing up the surroundings for a good bit. There is no point in considering yourself a monster for just doing your job. Grow a pair."

Fu knew that he might come off a little harsh, but he had to get that nonsense out of Naruto's head pronto. Danzo-sama would not like it if Fu brought back his apprentice with a screwed-up head. Fu was glad to see Naruto's worried look leave him.

"Thank you, Fu-sensei." Naruto flashed him a smile. "Next time though, it is going to be me saying the cool words after a mission." Both shared a laugh as they made their way back to Konoha.

**Flashback End**

Naruto noticed that they had reached Danzo-jiji's office. Naruto leading, the team walked into the office. Danzo-jiji was sitting doing paperwork just as Naruto expected. Naruto had gotten a good laugh when he realized how similar Hokage-jiji and Danzo-jiji were. They both had to do massive amounts of paperwork, and they were both really old. It was a surprise that the two weren't friends.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sai, and Maia reporting in Danzo-jiji. Mission was a success." Naruto calmly stated. For a 10 year old, Naruto could be surprisingly mature. Then again, he was in Root.

Twitching slightly at how he was addressed, Danzo gave Naruto a Look. The Look was promptly ignored by the blonde. Danzo sighed. He was never going to get Naruto to show proper respect. He would allow it though as long as the boy's mission report stayed the same. Naruto hadn't failed a mission yet. Danzo was even planning to give the boy a... gift for all his hard work.

"That is good news, Naruto-kun. This makes 31 passed missions and 0 failed ones correct?" Danzo asked rhetorically. Naruto just raised an eyebrow. "I believe that this deserves a reward. Come with me after this meeting." Danzo then turned his attention to the two people kneeling behind Naruto. Danzo hadn't gotten the blonde to kneel yet either.

"Sai and Maia, I have been hearing good things about your progress. Keep it up, and you can find yourself going far in Root." Danzo could see the gratitude shining from their eyes. He almost allowed himself a smirk; he still had the presence of a leader who inspired his followers. Turning back to his apprentice, Danzo knew he would have to be delicate about this next part.

"Naruto," Danzo began slowly. "I have been thinking about your situation." He paused to think over his words. "You are now ten years old, and you have the chance to graduate from the Academy now. You are not to try this though. I want you to graduate with the people your own age. This will allow you to continue training before you start moving up the ranks as a ninja of Konoha." What Danzo didn't say, but what Naruto understood, was that Danzo wouldn't be allowed to give many missions to Naruto after he graduated. Naruto would be too busy working for Hokage-jiji to do much, and Naruto had already laid down the law about anything to do with Hokage-jiji. Naruto was true to the old man to the end.

Danzo knew that Naruto could very well be one of the strongest in Konoha by the time the boy reached 18 or so. He also knew that it would be best to keep him under his control. Ever since the 'training' methods Danzo had employed when he first took Naruto as an apprentice, Danzo had made sure not to push the blonde too far. Naruto had literally almost snapped and unleashed the Fox. Danzo was not willingly to try for a repeat.

"I understand, Danzo-jiji. I will heed your advice." Danzo's eyes narrowed at the word advice. Naruto continued. "A couple extra years won't matter one way or another." Naruto said.

"It is good you understand this, Naruto-kun. Now let us be getting to your gift. Everyone else is dismissed." Danzo said with a wave of his hand. Sai, Maia, and the two Root members guarding Danzo all left via **Shunshin**. Naruto stayed behind, interested in what Danzo-jiji had gotten him.

"Follow me." So saying, Danzo led the young blonde through a secret doorway connected to his office. They passed through a long unlit hallway until they finally reached a door. Inside the room he was led to, Naruto only saw one thing. It looked akin to an alter, but he couldn't tell if it was actually used as one. On top of it was a scroll. Danzo-jiji walked over to the scroll before picking it up and handing it to him.

"This is a summoning scroll, Naruto-kun. It contains the contract for the baku. The baku is a mythical summoning. It has the limbs of a tiger, the trunk of an elephant, and tusks. The baku will aid you greatly in battle. It can suck in air at a very high level. This increases the power of our vacuum techniques. The seals for the summoning jutsu are boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram. Sign your name on the scroll in blood and try out the jutsu." Naruto was astonished. He couldn't believe Danzo-jiji was giving him something like this! Naruto hurried to cut his thumb and signed the contract.

Once the contract was signed, Danzo-jiji took it back and placed it where it was when they came into the room. Naruto could now see some kind of seals placed on the alter. He didn't think anyone who tried to steal that scroll would be living too long afterwards.

"Now listen, Naruto-kun. The baku is a mythical summons. There aren't a lot of them. In fact there is only one or two. Because of the mythical status of the baku, you can technically sign a contract for another animal. I personally don't think you will find another contract very easily, but I figured I would inform you anyway. Now test out the jutsu, but first access some of the Fox's chakra to help you." Danzo then walked to the entranceway of the room. If Naruto-kun did as he expected, the boy would need all the room he could get.

Naruto did the hand-signs before yelling out, "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu !**" Placing his hands on the ground, Naruto could see the smoke start billowing out after calling out the name. Soon the room was completely covered with smoke. _ What has Danzo-jiji given me!_ Naruto thought with awe. Standing before him was one of the biggest things he had ever seen in his life! The baku was freaking huge! It took up all the space in the room, and it looked utterly fantastic. Naruto had never seen anything so cool in his life! Naruto had to admit, though, the bandages on its head looked kinda lame.

Danzo smirked to himself. He was right about Naruto summoning it on his first try. Then again, it wouldn't be that hard for the boy with the Fox's chakra. The baku was standing before Naruto with a confused look on its face. Danzo wasn't surprised about the creature's confusion. Danzo had been the only one to summon it for around 50 years.

"Yo, Baku-san. Danzo-jiji let me sign your contract, so let us be good friends." Naruto said with good cheer. "Danzo-jiji has already taught me his vacuum techniques, so I will call you when I need you. With our combination, I am sure no one can beat us." Naruto yelled out. The baku looked at him strangely before nodding its head a slight bit.

"I will take your words to heart, new summoner." Came the very rough/ deep voice. Naruto just had one of the most shocking moments of his life. He had no clue that summons could talk. Danzo, watching from the side of the room, could only chuckle silently at the face the boy was making. It was a great combination between awe, shock, and plain out joy. It was a funny combination. "I hope to see you again soon. Good-bye." It then de-summoned itself. The room was once again filled with smoke.

Coughing and waving his arms in front of him, Naruto made his way to where he remembered the exit to be. He found Danzo-jiji a little ways down the passageway waiting for him. He was still shell-shocked.

"You did very well, Naruto-kun. I have no doubt that the baku will answer your call when you are in need just make sure to practice with him when no one can see you. Now I have another subject to talk to you about while we make our way back to my office. I don't know if you have realized this Naruto-kun, but I have taught you all my jutsus over the last two years. This means your ninjutsu can be sorely hampered if you don't learn anything else. That is why I am giving you the task of making up your own new moves. For this process, you might want to take into account that my vacuum techniques rely on sucking in wind, before spitting it out in new shapes. You have already mastered the waterfall-cutting, so I am sure that this task is not beyond your abilities. Make me proud." Danzo then walked back to his office.

Naruto stood in stunned silence for a second before making his way back to the office as well. _Danzo-jiji wants me to make my own jutsus? Thats... kinda cool. Maybe now I can work on that flying jutsu I have always wanted. Hmm... what did he mean when he said think of the vacuum part of his jutsus? Though to be truthful, I guess I do have the elemental manipulation down, and my shape manipulation is not bad... Hehehehe! Maybe I can do this after all. _ Naruto broke out into an uncontrolled giggling. Oh was he going to show Danzo-jiji some new moves!

Naruto made his way back to his house still chuckling. He couldn't get over how awesome he was going to be when he showed everyone his new moves. Walking through Konoha, Naruto noticed he was still getting those cold stares. He was going to show them though. When Uzumaki Naruto showed his face to the outside world, they would all respect him. That was a promise that Naruto was going to make sure was kept.

Naruto got another shock for the day when he saw Hokage-jiji waiting outside his apartment. It seemed like he had just started knocking on the door. Running up to the door, Naruto gave his surrogate grandfather a big hug. Laughing, the Sandaime returned the hug.

"Naruto-kun, it has been a couple weeks since I last saw you. You are looking good, my boy." Sarutobi said with a laugh. He was becoming worried for the boy. Naruto would still pull out a joke and smile and laugh, but sometimes, Sarutobi was sure he saw a maturity in his eyes that no ten year old should have. There was also the way Naruto walked now. He walked in silence. He walked as a skilled ninja would walk: eyes always on the look-out with muscles shifting that the boy shouldn't have shift yet. Sarutobi was worried.

_It does seem that someone is training him. The question is who_, he mused. _I can believe that the villager's attitude towards him would result in the maturity, but I really need to find out who is training the lad. It wouldn't be good if he learns too much too soon. If his teacher told him about the Kyuubi because of personal attachment, there will be hell to pay. _

"Hey, Jiji! How has the paperwork been treating you?" Naruto asked with an innocent smile. Naruto had found that it was never good to let Hokage-jiji look at him too long in silence. He ended up asking very... pointed questions that Naruto didn't want to answer just yet. He would one day... just not yet.

Sarutobi groaned in remembered pain. "Naruto-kun, why did you have to bring that up. I was having such a good time forgetting that evil." Naruto laughed. It was so easy to get to Hokage-jiji.

"Where have you been, Naruto-kun. It is still early morning, yet I find you just coming back home. You haven't been out drinking have you?" Sarutobi asked in a faked stern voice while trying to mask his grin.

Naruto was shocked that Hokage-jiji would even suggest something like that! "Of course not, Jiji! I was just training. I do have a position to uphold in the Academy, you know."

"Ah, that is true. You are in 3rd place correct?" At Naruto's nod, Sarutobi had to admit that whoever was training him was doing a great job. Naruto was the undisputed best fighter in the Academy period. He seemed to easily beat everyone in his class, and he only seemed to have some trouble on young Sasuke. It was a pressing situation for Sarutobi. On one hand you have Konoha's jinchuriki, who was like a grandson to him, getting training to become even better, but on the other hand the same jinchuriki was receiving training from someone who kept their presence hidden. It was a conundrum.

Sarutobi had tried to have the boy followed a couple of times, but his men were given the slip every time. He was still not sure how that happened. He had eventually stopped sending the ANBU to track the boy because he didn't want Danzo to get word of how the best in the village couldn't track one single boy. Sarutobi could just see Danzo asking to train a boy who could give the ANBU the slip. He would be dead before Naruto was ever trained under Danzo!

"Well, Naruto-kun, the paperwork waits for no man. I must be getting back. I just wanted to see how you were doing and invite you to some Ichirakus later this week for lunch. Would you go with an old man like me?" Sarutobi asked with a feeble voice.

Naruto laughed. It was quite a funny situation with Hokage-jiji now-a-days. The old man was getting even funnier in his old age. Naruto was glad the man actually cared. Not many people really cared about him. The only ones were the Ichirakus, Fu-sensei, maybe Danzo... maybe, Hokage-jiji, Sai, and Maia. It was nice to know he was still cared for.

"That sounds great, Hokage-jiji! Ramen truly is the best food ever!" Naruto yelled out with a smile. The reason Naruto was allowing himself to smile and laugh so easy was simple. Right before he became Danzo-jiji's apprentice, Naruto had decided that the emotion control had a certain place and only in that place. The only time he would seriously control his emotions would be in battle or a mission. Out of battle he would allow himself to have fun and laugh. He developed this rule partly in response to Danzo-jiji's strict policy of emotional control, and mainly because he felt it was right to have fun. Naruto didn't see why he shouldn't smile when he wanted to. Though all his training in the subject naturally allowed him to have a more calm demeanor when making decisions on an everyday basis.

Sarutobi smiled fondly before giving his good-byes. Naruto waved back before heading into his house. Quickly changing, Naruto got ready for another boring day at the Academy. At this point, he almost didn't even care about what they taught. He had almost never used anything that was taught at the Academy on a mission, so he didn't see the point to studying most of it. He hung on though since he wanted a high spot in the ranking.

Naruto was pondering on a new teacher they had gotten while quickly roof-jumping to the Academy. The man had started at the beginning of the year, and Naruto had to admit that he liked him. Iruka-sensei was always nice to him even if he was boring in class.

Naruto listened intently as class went on. He even took some notes. He had an image to maintain after all. In reality, Naruto was mainly going over his last couple of missions. The last four missions had all been extremely simple. Danzo-jiji was having most of Root search for information wherever they went. The question that plagued Naruto's mind was why. Most of the information was even unguarded. He really didn't see the point of getting it, but he assumed that Danzo-jiji would tell him in time if he needed to know.

Coming out of his thoughts back to class, Naruto looked down to see what he had written. He noticed most of the notes were about the Yondaime. It was an interesting skill Naruto had developed. He could almost fully focus his mind on one thing while having another part focus on what was going on around his surroundings. He had discovered this skill with while tinkering with the **Mind Concentration** jutsu. He really had to thank Fu-sensei for teaching him that again.

Naruto looked around the room and noticed that Mizuki was walking around the room and overseeing the students. That man was another newer teacher for their class. Unlike Iruka-sensei though, Naruto didn't like him. Naruto had gotten Danzo-jiji to show him Mizuki's record, and the record was not good. If looked at in a certain light, it could even mean betrayal. Too bad Hokage-jiji was a little too soft in his case. Mizuki was not a really nice guy.

Naruto noticed that when Mizuki walked near him his muscles twitched. Normally he would just ignore it, but Mizuki didn't seem to twitch when he was around the other students. This pointed to Mizuki having a personal dislike of him. Naruto's feelings were hurt. Smirking, Naruto made sure to 'accidently' trip the man when he came back around.

It was masterfully done. Using all his skills developed from Root, Naruto made it seem that he didn't even move. The slightest amount of motion combined with a quick distraction to pull Mizuki's eyes away from his feet and Mizuki went tumbling. He landed sprawled on the floor. The whole class got a good laugh at seeing their assistant teacher laid out on the floor. The man didn't seem very happy with the situation. Naruto played the innocent and was believed because Mizuki never even saw him move his foot. It was good to be trained by Root after all.

Naruto made his way form the Academy after Iruka-sensei dismissed the class. He quickly made his way home and started on jutsu making. Naruto wanted to have at least a couple new jutsu made by the time he passed the genin exam. He would also need a better clone jutsu. The one he had just wasn't cutting it for him. Having a clone 'die' after a couple seconds wasn't going to work for Uzumaki Naruto! Naruto put that on his to-do list.

Having his agenda prepared, Naruto set to work. He was determined to create jutsu that would leave Danzo-jiji green with envy. He also wanted to fly. It was going to be interesting to see what he could do.

**Scene Break**

"Hmm... what is this." Danzo asked himself as he sorted through all the new information he had collected. "Hoh! It seems that I have finally found what I wanted. This will aid my work greatly indeed. Now, all I need to do is have some seals created akin to this chakra armor, but it will have to be reversed somehow. This arm is taking too much of my chakra. If I don't have someway to slow it down or stop it, then the whole experiment will have been wasted. I guess I will have to place this project as first priority." Danzo then flipped through some more papers before finding something else of interest.

_A report detailing the existence of a jinchuriki in Konoha, is it. _ Danzo's eyes went cold on reading that piece of information. _No outside people should have this information. Good thing Root killed the person who had possession of this copy. Let us hope there wasn't another. _Danzo's eyes narrowed further in thought._ It seems we have a spy in Konoha. That can't be allowed to happen. I think I will see if Naruto-kun can do something about this. It will be good training for him in finding a person who doesn't want to be found._

Danzo put the papers in a drawer and locked it with a complex seal array. He slowly got up from the desk and grabbed his cane. He left his office, but not before locking it with another complex seal array. Danzo was always careful when it came to his things. Making his way to another part of Root HQ, Danzo had a new mission to give a certain blonde.

The End

A/N: The next chapter will start a couple weeks before the graduation exam when Naruto is 12. Hope you enjoyed the story so far.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

_Italics means personal thoughts_

"Hm... should I choose the red or green?" Naruto asked to himself. The blonde genin-to-be was in a clothing store shopping for his future attire. Naruto didn't think that genin should wear only masks and black. It probably would scare the clients.

"I think I will choose the red. Hey, clerk, I want four outfits of the red here! And make sure nothing but silk touches my upper body! I like to enjoy the feel." Naruto finished in a whisper with a strange grin on his face. The clerk was slightly freaked out. Not only was the Kyuubi kid buying all this stuff, he was acting weird doing it! The clerk wasn't having a good day.

Naruto chuckled as he made his way out of the store with his new purchases under his arm. It was so fun to creep out some people. Naruto made his way down the street looking for the next shop he wanted to enter. Spotting the seal shop, Naruto made his way in.

The seal shop was a relatively new place to Naruto. He had started coming ever since he had found the place six months ago. The owner was always glad to see him based on the fact that, though Naruto never bought anything, the boy pretty much sold them half of their stock. Almost all of the explosion tags and sealing scrolls were made by Naruto. The thing that pleased the owner the most was that Naruto sold them much cheaper than normal.

Naruto usually ended up selling most of his seals for a pittance of what they were actually worth. This was because of a couple of things. One was that he sold the store so much anyway that he was still making a decent profit. The other was that he didn't have to buy any of his materials, so he could sell it for only a $ 1 and still make a profit. Danzo-jiji was generous with the paper and ink. Naruto's having slight ownership of the store also helped him keep his price low. There was no point in basically stealing money from himself after all.

"Hello!" Shouted the gruff voice that was coming from the back of the store when Naruto came in. Naruto then spotted a head peaking out from under a counter. "Oh, if it isn't Naruto. How you doing my boy? I hope you brought some more seals. The last batch you brought is almost gone." Yomuru asked in a friendly tone. Naruto liked the man and had liked him ever since they met. Yomuru never looked down on him for housing the Fox. Instead, the man treated him like any other, which was a great thing to Naruto.

"I have them right here, Yomuru. I even brought a couple more this time in case something like this happens again." Naruto said while pulling out the storage scroll he kept his seals in. After placing blood on the appropriate seal, stacks of seals popped out from the scroll. Divided by type, there were a good number of both kinds of seals though there were more exploding tags because they always sold much faster. Naruto handed both stacks to the man behind the counter and received his money in return. It was a great business deal for both of them.

"Thank you, thank you. I must say that this shop would have already been dust in the wind if you hadn't shown up when you did, Naruto. Your cheap seals as well as buying partial ownership of the store have truly kept this place making a profit. I just hope that you have enough time to continue making all these seals when you become a genin in a couple of weeks." Yomuru finished with a big laugh. The man stood at 6 feet 4 inches, so almost everything he did could be considered big.

"Just helping out where I can, Yomuru. Well, I got a kid I got to beat up so see you later!" Naruto yelled out as he made his way from the shop. He saw Yomuru give him a wave as he was closing the door. Yep, Yomuru was a good man if a bit rough at times.

Naruto made his way to his apartment with money in his pocket. He had come to enjoy that feeling. Money sure helped him out in getting some things around the village. Though if he was being honest with himself, Danzo-jiji could have probably just gotten all he wanted for him, but Naruto didn't like to owe Danzo-jiji for everything in his life. It didn't seem right to bug the old man on pocket change.

Placing the purchases in his apartment and the money in his safe, Naruto headed back out to administer his weekly beating to the Uchiha. One year ago, Uchiha Sasuke had started challenging Naruto to fight once every week. Usually they were taijutsu only battles, but on occasion they would add ninjutsu into it. Naruto had so far come out with a perfect record. The only time he had almost lost was when Sasuke had used a jutsu that Naruto didn't know he had combined with a well-timed replacement.

It was a funny situation. Sasuke Uchiha, heir to the sharingan, and Naruto Uzumaki, orphan of Konoha, battling to show which one was the better fighter, and Naruto Uzumaki won every time. Naruto got a laugh out of it when he thought of it at least. He wasn't sure other people would think it was funny. Danzo-jiji might, and Fu-sensei definitely would.

Naruto made his way into an outlying training ground. It had quickly become their sparring site after that one chunin got mad at them for practicing on 'his' training ground since they were only Academy students. The man had to have anger issues.

Naruto's compensation for fighting with Sasuke was that they wouldn't have to spar against each other at the Academy. Sasuke pulled some strings with Mizuki to get that done. Naruto wasn't sure how exactly, but he really didn't mind. If he was seen beating on the number one Academy student all the time, too many questions would be asked. That was why for a whole year he never faced Sasuke in a spar at the Academy. This allowed everyone to forget just how good Naruto truly was. Everyone won.

Sasuke was already waiting for him when he arrived. In fact, he seemed kind of annoyed. Naruto was late though, so Sasuke had a legitimate reason to be annoyed. Naruto just shrugged it off and prepared himself for the match.

"Hn. Your late, Uzumaki. I had thought you had gotten scared." Sasuke said with an amused smirk. Normally there would have been a very arrogant tone to his voice, but Naruto had quickly knocked any arrogance out of him when it came to Naruto Uzumaki. Several slightly severe, beatings could do that to a person. "How about we both go all out this time. You know, like a last battle before we both become genin." The smirk widened.

Naruto, well, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, you want me to go all out! Good joke, Uchiha! How about I take it really easy on you and promise to not whip you and send you home crying." Naruto said with a smile on his face. Sasuke's mouth thinned at hearing his skills so downplayed.

"Are you trying to be funny, Uzumaki! I will beat you. That is a promise. I even have a surprise that I have been cultivating since our last fight." Sasuke said with anger in his voice. He really didn't take getting laughed at well.

"Oh, little Sasuke-chan has a secret jutsu to take on the big, bad Naruto?" Naruto asked with a

innocent voice. "Don't you remember the last spar we had? If I am remembering correctly, I kicked your ass so hard that you ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. Your fangirls were so _sad_ to see you not at school." Sasuke shuddered at the mention of fangirls, but he went back to glaring when his fit passed.

Now many people who passed by that certain training ground when Sasuke and Naruto fought would believe that the two hated each other with great passion. This wasn't the exact truth however. Naruto was probably Sasuke's only friend, and Sasuke was one of the few friends Naruto had. They just had a weird way of showing it.

"Laugh at this, Uzumaki." Sasuke said while activating his sharingan. He had found out that he had activated it when he was going over the spar in the hospital. He had nothing else to do than think while there anyway. Sasuke had noticed that at the very end he was able to predict Naruto's punch if only the slightest. Once he got out of the hospital, he had used the remaining four days until their next spar to get used to it. The problem Sasuke found was that the sharingan bit deeply into his chakra reserves. That meant he could use it only for a minute total.

Naruto was slightly surprised that Sasuke had finally activated his bloodline. Looks like he was a little too intense in their last spar if it made Sasuke activate his sharingan. _Whoops. Danzo-jiji might be a little mad at me about that one. He doesn't seem to like the Uchihas very much._

Naruto decided to proceed with the battle. He would just make Sasuke's new advantage useless. "Let's begin with your beating, Sasuke."

"Fine by me, let the better eyes win, Naruto." Sasuke said with a smirk. He then charged at the blonde.

"I think you meant, let the better ninja win, Sasuke. Everyone knows that the sharingan is just a hack." That seemed to piss the Uchiha off. _Mission accomplished_, Naruto thought. Seeing Sasuke run at him in a rage, Naruto calmly jumped into the trees surrounding the clearing they were in.

"Are you running away from me, Uzumaki! Come back here you coward!" Sasuke yelled enraged. He was not going to let anyone make fun of his eyes!

"Too simple, Uchiha. Now try this on for size." Naruto whispered. Flying through the hand-signs, Naruto muttered, "**Kirigakure no Jutsu**." Naruto made sure to knead a lot of chakra into in the jutsu. The more chakra, the thicker the mist. Naruto had found that he could make it even thicker if he used the same amount of chakra just with less coverage. That was why the mist was only concentrated in the clearing where Sasuke was at. The trees surrounding the clearing were clear of mist.

A huge bank of mist rolled into the training ground. "What the hell is this, Uzumaki!" Sasuke shouted in panic. He had never heard of anything like this before. He could barely see his own hand!

Naruto smiled in satisfaction. Danzo-jiji had outdone himself when he sent Naruto on a mission to learn an elemental jutsu. This jutsu worked so great in so many situations, and all he had to do to learn it was capture that one chunin.

**Flashback 1 year ago (Naruto's 11):**

"Naruto-kun, it has been annoying me that you only have wind jutsus in your arsenal. That is why I am assigning you a mission to learn a different elemental jutsu. You have two weeks to obtain and learn this jutsu. You better get going." Danzo-jiji said quite calmly. Naruto had no idea how he was able to be so calm because he thought panicking sounded so much better.

"You can't be saying what I think you are suggesting, Danzo-jiji." Naruto asked with trepidation. "The way you worded that made it sound awfully like you wanted me to leave Konoha to find a new jutsu, but I _know_ that you wouldn't do anything like that. Right?" Naruto pleaded hopefully. His hopes were crushed at Danzo-jiji's next words however.

"You heard right, Naruto-kun. Your mission is to sneak into another country and either buy or steal an elemental jutsu that is not wind. You will bring it back to Konoha, and it will be added to Root's library. And make sure you don't bring back a jutsu that is already in the library. You have two weeks. Best hurry." Danzo-jiji said with no mercy.

Naruto groaned but hurriedly made his way through the underground tunnels that led out of the village. _Now if I want a new jutsu, where should I go? Suna is out because most of their jutsus will be of the wind variety, and Danzo-jiji said not to get those. That leads Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo. Iwa is also out because if I am found there then I am guaranteed painful torture. Kiri and Kumo will at least try to ransom me before they deem me ready for torture... hopefully. Basically, it comes down to a lightning or water jutsu. Hmm. I guess I will go to Water Country because they are still not fully back up from the whole Civil War business. _Decision decided, Naruto set forth to learn a new jutsu.

It took him three days before he found himself sufficiently lost somewhere in Water Country. Naruto had been aiming at finding an outpost that only had a couple of ninja stationed at it. He would then make it look like one of the ninjas had gone rouge. This would have allowed him to escape the country undetected. Unfortunately, all good plans come to an end. This one just ended a little sooner than hoped.

Naruto sighed as he tried to get his bearings. Mucking through swamps, mist, and water everywhere was not his idea of a good time. "Sure, it will be easier to go to Water Country. I think I will go to Water Country." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "What the hell was I thinking!" He exploded.

"Halt! Identify yourself or you will be slain!" Came an unknown voice from his right.

_Sigh, this is just my day. Not only am I lost in this stupid mist, but now some idiot has 'found' me. At least the good side to this is that I can just use this dude to learn my jutsu._ Slightly cheered up from this thought, Naruto slowly turned around with his hands out. He already had the perfect way out of the situation.

Naruto was surprised to see an older man with a kunai out. He was probably in his early forties with graying hair. He also had a Mist headband around his head. Naruto smiled; his luck was finally turning around.

"Hello there, Shinobi-san." Naruto said with a cultured air. Danzo-jiji taught all Root members how to take on any identity they could possibly need when in foreign countries. As you can see, I am quite lost. Can I get you to help me out of this mist?" Naruto asked with complete innocence.

Keine was very suspicious of the boy in front of him. He had been following the boy for the past thirty minutes, and while the boy didn't give any signal that he knew he was being followed, Keine couldn't shake the feeling that the boy was way too relaxed to be lost. He had even placed the mist around the boy to better confuse him. Keine had come to trust his instincts as they had never betrayed him before.

"Slowly come here with your hands up. If you make one wrong move, I will kill you. I will release you once I verify that you are a civilian." Keine said slowly. He was taking no chances.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the melodramatic performance the Mist ninja was putting on. The man should have just killed him without asking questions. Too bad for him. Naruto walked forward slowly until he was standing right in front of the ninja.

Naruto waited until the ninja moved closer to check him. Then when the man was right in front of him, Naruto swiftly channeled the slightest bit of the Kyuubi's chakra into his hands. This turned normal fingers into lethal claws. Striking out with great speed, Naruto easily severed the hand that was still holding a kunai.

"Yah! What the hell!" Yelled Keine. He couldn't believe it! He was staring down at his arm on the ground while his stump poured out blood. He looked at the boy in front of him that had just ruined his ninja career. He was going to wipe that damn smile of the bastard's face!

_Too easy,_ thought Naruto. _The old man was entirely too trusting for a ninja. Well time to interrogate him._ Naruto walked closer to the shocked man, but he was surprised when the man ran at him with a kunai in his remaining hand. _At least the man knows how to not give up easily_.

Naruto quickly disarmed the man before using his claws to hamstring him. Naruto had to admit that his claws added a lot to his fighting style. All they took to activate was the slightest amount of the Fox's chakra channeled into his nails. Naruto had found that he had such control of lower amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra that he could channel it into certain sections of his body only. This meant that he could have fangs or claws without the whole chakra aura that lit him up to anybody near his location. Though he had never had to use his fangs in an actual combat setting, he figured that they could come in handy one day.

Naruto had also figured out other interesting uses for the Kyuubi's chakra. Little tricks of the trade as they were. The thing that disappointed him was that he could barely control four tails of the Kyuubi's chakra. Three tails and down were his to control, but the fourth tail added a whole new dimension to controlling the Fox's power. Naruto still tried on occasion to gain complete control over the fourth tail, but so far all his attempts had ended up with him going berserk after a couple of minutes.

After he had learned that he would need something special to gain control of over four tails, Naruto had set out to learn everything he could about using the first three tails. This exploration led to him being able to channel the Fox's chakra to specific parts of his body such as his nails or teeth. He had also been able to channel it into his muscles to give him great strength. Both of those uses did not require him to form a chakra shroud. Naruto was able to use a lot more subtlety without making a beacon to any sensor ninja around. One of the cooler aspects though of using the Fox's chakra shroud was that he could point his hands in one direction, and the chakra shroud would extend in that direction. Naruto still had slight problems in controlling the delicacy in his touches with the shroud, but it didn't really matter on a practical scale.

Keine was in total shock. Here some boy half his age had just totally destroyed him. Keine knew that he was about to die. _I guess it has been a good life_, he thought with a smile as he awaited the finishing blow. After a couple of seconds of waiting, Keine looked up to see where his killer was. _ If the boy is going to kill me, what was he waiting for?_

Naruto smiled slightly as he saw the man waiting for the finishing blow. Too bad for him that he wasn't getting out of life that easily. Naruto went into action when the man lifted up his head to look around in confusion. Naruto quickly placed bandages around the man's severed arm and where he had cut through the thigh. It wouldn't keep the man alive much longer, but Naruto only needed a few minutes.

"Ok, we're going to play a little game." Naruto said in a menacing voice. All signs of the innocent kid were gone from him now. "You tell me what I want to know, and I simply kill you. You mess with me, and I drag out your last moments and make them seem like an eternity. Deal?" Naruto asked with complete seriousness. Danzo-jiji had actually beat into him seriousness when it came to questioning prisoners.

"Are you out of your mind! You actually think I am going to tell you anything?" Keine asked in disbelief. "I will never betray my village!" He shouted.

"Yes, yes I do. My name is Naruto Uzumaki by the way, and I only want one thing from you. What's your name?" Naruto asked as he began his interrogation.

Keine looked at the boy, Naruto, in complete confusion. Why did he care anything about names? Wouldn't he want to know all about Kiri's defenses and other related information? And what was up with the total change in topic.

"My name is Keine, chunin of Kiri." Keine finally decided to say. He knew that his name wasn't known anywhere. He was just an average chunin that had survived the wars. There were many other people just like him out there.

"Ah, thats a nice name, Mr. Keine. And a chunin you say? Pretty impressive." Naruto said with a smile. If Keine was paying better attention, he would have noticed there was no emotion in Naruto's voice. Unluckily for Keine, he was suffering from massive blood loss, so he just thought the kid was bipolar or something from switching to serious to cheerful. "Back to my question, I want you to teach me the **Kirigakure no Jutsu**. If you do, I will put you out of your misery."

_This kid wants to learn a jutsu! Is that why he attacked me? That doesn't even make any sense! I am going to die just because one kid wanted to learn a jutsu? That is plain out wrong! Like hell is he getting the details from me._ With his decision decided, Keine stayed mute.

"Not saying, eh. Well that is too bad... for you." Knowing that Keine wouldn't be talking until he convinced him, Naruto set to work on making the man talk. Slowly, where Keine could see every movement, Naruto moved his hands until they were on Keine's fingers. Naruto slowly moved the pinky back until he heard the 'Pop'. Seeing the pain on the man's face, Naruto was saddened that it had come to this. He really didn't like torture.

Naruto moved onto the other fingers. He had to stop a couple times to make sure the bindings weren't leaking too much blood, but that just helped him in the end by prolonging the pain. Naruto could tell the man was getting closer to delirium from blood loss and pain. Naruto decided to strike.

"So, the hand-signs and description of the **Kirigakure no Jutsu** please." Naruto stated.

Keine was in hell. First he gets his left arm chopped off, then he gets hamstrung on his right leg, and finally some little kid breaks all of his remaining fingers. All to get a stupid jutsu! Finally breaking down, Keine started sobbing from all the torment he had been put through. He just wanted the pain to end. All prior plans to stay mute passed from his mind in face of the pain and blood loss. He started explaining how to do the **Kirigakure no Jutsu**.

Naruto looked on with a stoic face. He really hated to break people. To see them plead for mercy or look at him in hatred made him feel evil. He knew Danzo-jiji considered it a vital tool for any ninja and the Konoha had its own department dedicated to torture and intelligence, but it still made him feel unclean when people he tortured looked at him like that.

Naruto carefully wrote down every word Keine said. He didn't want to do anything wrong when he tried out the jutsu. Once Keine finished telling him all he knew about the jutsu, Naruto slit his throat with a kunai. Picking up the body, Naruto turned toward the direction of Konoha. He knew that he would pass some kind of body of water on his way. He had passed enough when he was coming into Water Country after all.

Naruto found a lake after thirty minutes of running at full speed through the country. He water-walked into the middle of it before dropping his cargo. He had made sure to weigh it down with some rocks from the shoreline. Watching to make sure it sunk enough to make finding it difficult, Naruto swiftly made his way out of the country.

When he arrived near Konoha two days later, Naruto set up camp. He had a couple days to learn the jutsu before Danzo-jiji said he had to be back. Naruto had decided it would be better to learn it outside of Konoha because it was an area jutsu. He really didn't want to get discovered making large areas of mist by accident inside Konoha. He would gain some control of the technique before he decided to use it anywhere inside Konoha's walls.

Naruto spent the next couple days experimenting with the jutsu. He was able to get it down pretty easy even though water wasn't really his prime element like wind was. Naruto was glad that he didn't use it first in Konoha. The first time he got the jutsu right created a mist that extended for miles! There had been a little too much chakra in that one. Though it did show Naruto that if he ever needed to cover an entire town, it would be possible with that jutsu.

**Flashback end.**

Naruto could hear Sasuke stumbling around. It must have been so shaming to finally be able to activate his eyes, but find such a glaring weakness in them so soon. _Meh, maybe it will help him later in life._ Naruto slowly slipped into the mist to start his attack on Sasuke. He knew the clearing by heart from all the times he had faced Sasuke here, so he glided in dead silence to where he could hear Sasuke's breathing.

Naruto pulled out a couple of kunai and threw them. From the curse, Naruto knew that at least one of them connected. It was too bad that the user couldn't see anything either in the mist they created. Well any competent user of the hidden mist jutsu would at least learn how to work around that fact, and the ears and nose were prime examples of ways to do it. Naruto heard Sasuke trying to go to the right. Using his greater speed, Naruto appeared right in front of the Uchiha and delivered a punch to his gut. After the hit, Naruto blended back into the mist.

_What the hell is this! He attacks me and I can't do anything! I can't even tell how far this mist extends, so even if I tried to escape, it might turn out pointless. Even with my sharingan, I am useless. I will never catch up with Itachi like this!_ Sasuke tried again to find the blonde, but he couldn't see anything through the jutsu that Naruto had used.

Naruto was having a good time. It seemed that Sasuke hadn't trained any of his senses to fight when under a handicap, so Naruto was finding it easy to attack him and then fade away. Naruto appeared behind Sasuke and swept his legs from under him. This caused the Uchiha to take a fall. Naruto delivered a powerful axe kick to his gut before fading into the mist again.

"Gah!" Sasuke croaked as blood flew from his mouth. He couldn't believe what was happening. He had never been this outclassed in any other spar in his life. Even his earlier spars against Naruto were never this bad. His sharingan was also pointless in the mist because the mist was laced with Naruto's chakra. This meant that the whole mist looked just the same to him. It was infuriating!

Sasuke got off the ground slowly. His movements were hindered from the blows he had taken. Naruto was holding little back in each blow he struck. Sasuke looked around trying to find the blonde once again. Not seeing anything, he took off in one direction as fast as he could. He was going to try to have something change.

Naruto listened with a smile as he heard Sasuke start running. It seemed that the Uchiha finally was going to try something different. He couldn't have that. Naruto quickly raced to intercept him with a kunai in hand. Steps before he could feel the mist ended, Naruto caught up with Sasuke. Taking the kunai, he made sure to be extra delicate in his attack. Running right behind Sasuke in silence, Naruto tripped him.

Sasuke fell to the ground in a heap. The next thing he knew was that there was a weight on his back and cold metal at his neck. He gulped before going completely still. Then he felt Naruto moving the kunai around on his neck. Blood soon followed.

Naruto was having fun. Destroying arrogance was a joy as he slowly cut all the way around on Sasuke's neck. He wanted to leave a lasting impression on the boy. The cutting would heal in a weak or so anyway.

"You give, Sasuke?" Naruto asked slowly. He was hoping the Uchiha would say no.

"I..." coughing sounds were made as Sasuke tried to force out the words he hated the most. "I give." He finally muttered.

Naruto was all smiles as he helped Sasuke up. It seemed that the Uchiha would be back in the hospital again if the way he was staggering around was any indication. Also the blood that still coated Sasuke's mouth could mean that there were internal injuries. Though there might be some awkward questions about the cuts on his neck, Naruto figured Sasuke would make up some excuse about shaving or something.

"Get off me!" Sasuke tried to shout as he shoved Naruto off of him. It sounded more like a croak though before he started coughing again.

"Hmm... you should probably go to the hospital. It seems that there might be some internal injuries. Sorry." Naruto said with an innocent smile before getting serious again. "You said you wanted a full on battle, so I gave you a pretty serious fight. I hope you enjoyed it. I don't think we will be fighting again for some time." Going back to his innocent smile, Naruto began walking away. "I hope you pass the genin exam." Naruto said over his shoulder as he walked away.

Sasuke was humiliated. How could he be that weak? Naruto had just destroyed him! It shouldn't have been possible for Naruto to beat him that bad. _Though now that I think on it, I have barely even hurt him in our past battles. How could he be that strong? It doesn't make sense! I will get stronger though. Next time it will be different. Next time, I will win, Naruto Uzumaki! _Sasuke then left the training ground headed towards the hospital.

Naruto walked away from the clearing in a good mood. He had to thank Danzo-jiji because, through his training, he was able to totally own the Rookie of the Year of his class. Who knew how strong he would be if it wasn't for Danzo-jiji. Maybe he should get Danzo-jiji a present. _It might do the old man good to get something,_ Naruto mused. _Who knows the last time Danzo-jiji got a present. Ha! Danzo-jiji getting a present. The very idea is hilarious. I am so getting him one. Now the question is what present..._

Naruto continued down the road contemplating a good present. He wanted it to be something useful but also somewhat funny. Maybe a jutsu or something... Naruto really had no clue what the old man would like. He shrugged. He was sure a good idea would come to him in time.

**1 Week Later. **

"Naruto-kun, graduation is almost upon you. Two years ago, I gave you a challenge. Have you answered it?" Danzo asked his apprentice. They were currently located in the training ground under Root HQ, and Danzo was very curious to see if Naruto had actually developed any good jutsus. "If I am sufficiently satisfied with any jutsu you created, I will teach you a new clone technique that you have been begging to get for years." Danzo promised.

"That sounds great, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said with great thanks. He was very happy that Danzo-jiji would trust him enough to not only create new jutsu, but also teach him a jutsu that was sorely lacking from his arsenal. An actual clone jutsu would greatly help him because he still had trouble with the standard **Bunshin**. Naruto was slightly embarrassed about that.

"I must admit that I have developed two new jutsus." Naruto said while getting serious. He really hoped Danzo-jiji would be proud of him. Naruto personally thought his new jutsus were great. The ultimate jutsu in the assassin's art as he thought of them.

Naruto started his explanation, "I have taken the concept of the vacuum jutsus and taken them a step forward." He then walked a couple steps away from Danzo-jiji. "These techniques are assassination style techniques. The very basic one creates a bubble... well let me just show you." Naruto said sheepishly. He wanted everything to be just right when he showed Danzo-jiji how hard he trained to get these jutsu.

"**Futon: Muko Baburu**" (Wind Style: Void Bubble), Naruto called out. Flashing through the two hand-signs of bird and then dog, Naruto breathed in air before blowing a bubble on the exhale. He was so proud of his creation. Naruto was sure Danzo-jiji would be immensely proud of his achievement too.

_Ok... he made a bubble_, Danzo thought with a small sweat-drop. He wasn't sure just what Naruto-kun's jutsu was supposed to do, but so far he had to say that he wasn't impressed. All it seemed to be was a bubble that hung in the air. He would be disappointed if his apprentice's two year time period was spent on this and hanging in the air was all it did.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, what does your bubble do?" Danzo asked with curiosity. He knew that there had to be more than what he was seeing.

Naruto smiled. He was glad Danzo-jiji asked. Naruto figured most people would be completely unimpressed with the jutsu if they saw it for the first time. That was partly the reason he had created it the way he did. There was also the factor that it was the easiest to make if it appeared as a bubble.

"Just as the name implies, Danzo-jiji. Inside the bubble is void." Naruto said with a smile. He then continued his lecture. "The outer shell of the bubble has a continuous vacuum power that pulls everything from out of the bubble and moves it outside of it. This causes all the air to leave from the inside. This suction power also removes any of the gases from inside of the bubble. This means that if anyone is trapped inside the bubble then they will have no air to breathe." Danzo was intrigued by what he was hearing.

"Also the outside of the bubble is very solid." Naruto demonstrated this by knocking on it with his fist. "This allows the bubble to become a very effective trap. It also helps that the outside only hardens on my command via chakra. This allows me to make the bubble consume a target and then harden the surface to keep them in. I am also able to move the bubble, but it is not very fast." Naruto stated with a proud smile. Danzo allowed him the smile because his jutsu was very innovative. He could see a few problems with it, but they could be worked out later.

"Another cool feature of my void bubble is that fire attacks will not work on it, so if a fire user is trapped in there and they try to use a fire jutsu to get out, the attack will not have the air to burn. This results in likely suffocation because they will not have the time to think of another plan before they run out of breathe. I can also use this feature as a shielding mechanism by allowing the fire jutsu to pass into the void, and the void will snuff the fire out." Naruto concluded with pride.

Danzo had to admit to being impressed. His apprentice had taken a concept he had developed over many years, and then taken it to the next step. Danzo knew that his created jutsus, the vacuum jutsus, were based off the principle of suction and breathing in air before letting loose the jutsu. Danzo had taken years to create each jutsu over the course of his whole life, so by teaching Naruto all his jutsus very early in Naruto's life, Danzo had allowed Naruto to create his own style based off the already completed Vacuum style. Naruto had gone one further than vacuum and had created what he called void. Using the principle of suction, Naruto pulled everything out of an area and created a void. _I have trained a genius in jutsu creation_, Danzo thought in amazement.

"Ne, Danzo-jiji, you ready to see my other jutsu I created?" Naruto asked excitedly. He could tell from the subtle signs Danzo-jiji was giving off that the man was impressed. Naruto couldn't wait to show him an even better jutsu than the void bubble.

Danzo's eyes widened very slightly at hearing of another jutsu. He would have figured that Naruto wouldn't have had the time to make another jutsu. Though Naruto had stated he had two jutsus, Danzo's entire attention had been only on analyzing the first one, so he forgot Naruto had mentioned a second one.

Naruto slowly breathed in and out before concentrating his chakra. He didn't have to do this for this jutsu, but he wanted everything to be right as he showed it to Danzo-jiji. This jutsu was also really hard because of all the shape manipulation in it, so Naruto's preparation actually helped him. "**Futon: Dansu no Muko**" (Wind Style: Dance of the Void), Naruto called out as he used the hand-signs: boar, bird, and dog.

Breathing in and then letting out just like with most of his techniques, Naruto delicately shaped his chakra to take on just the appearance that he wanted. What appeared in front of him and greatly surprised Danzo was what looked remarkably like a maiden. Using his chakra, Naruto had it do the function he named it for. Naruto made it dance.

Danzo looked on in slight disbelief. His apprentice had surpassed where Danzo had thought him to be. If that jutsu did what he thought it did, Danzo had to admit that Naruto could very well be one of the greater assassins in Konoha. He would have to make sure though...

"Naruto-kun, could you please explain to me just what does this jutsu do." Danzo asked with patience.

"Sure, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said politely. "As you probably noticed with the last jutsu, it had some problems. The void bubble has a very limited range of motion and is very slow. I can move it, but it costs a decent bit of chakra. This technique takes the same principle as used in the void bubble, but this one is designed for fast movement. Like the first one, I can control if the surface is hard or malleable. This jutsu is mainly designed to contort to the target's body and never let go. That is why I shaped it like a human maiden. The appearance along with the unqexpectable nature of the jutsu should allow for the capture and then death of any target." Naruto said.

"If worse comes to worse and an opponent breaks out of my void, then I can always harden the jutsu before it hits. This would result in a ramming effect which could then allow me to change the hardness and still get the target. I do believe that there is great potential in my jutsus. What do you think, Danzo-jiji?" Naruto asked with baited breath. He really wanted to make the old man proud. Danzo-jiji had trained him and looked after him. While harsh and at times cruel, Naruto still considered Danzo-jiji as family. He really wanted his acknowledgement.

Danzo rubbed his chin with his left hand. He had to give it to the boy. Naruto had come a long way. Now all Danzo had to do was compliment his apprentice enough were he would be proud, but not enough where he would get too arrogant. Danzo knew that Naruto could very well come up with jutsus that would help send Konoha to the top where it belonged. In two years the boy had come up with a whole new way to look at the wind element. If Naruto kept up with new jutsus and increased the versatility and power, then he could probably even start calling his techniques Void Style. Yes, Danzo was very impressed with his student.

"Naruto-kun... I have to say that I am very impressed." Danzo said with a smile. He knew how much Naruto prized getting smiles from his teachers. After all, not many people in Root smiled. "Not only have you created something that I had not even thought of, you have also advanced it to a decent level."

"Well, I am not done with it just yet." Naruto murmured with an embarrassed smile. He was not used to getting compliments from Danzo-jiji though he was giddy at getting the old man's acknowledgement. "I still want to make the void even more empty. Some day I want even gravity to be not present in a void I create. Though I know I have a long way to go before that comes about. I will still strive to make my void truly empty and more versatile." Naruto stated with conviction.

Danzo should have expected it. He didn't even have to go into the pitfalls about arrogance. Naruto-kun seemed to already grasped the lesson without him even saying it. The boy had always worked extremely hard though, so Danzo knew he shouldn't really be surprised. He was really surprised though that Naruto didn't consider his void complete. Naruto's future improvements sounded interesting. Danzo couldn't wait to see them.

Going back to his serious demeanor, Danzo proceeded to finish his analysis of Naruto-kun's newest jutsu. "The speed of your jutsu still needs to be increased. It would also be better if your void was able to not only pull out the air from its confines, but also pull the air from the target's lungs. If someone was able to hold their breath inside your void, it would give them more opportunities to break out. Either through the nose or mouth have the suction be able to pull the very breath from them. This should allow you better results in your void jutsu." Danzo tried to think of any more critiques, but he couldn't think of anything more at the moment. "If I think of anything more later, I will inform you."

"I thank you, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said with gratitude. Naruto went on to say, "In all honesty, it was through your aid alone that I have grown strong. You taught me almost all you know and even allowed me access to your personal summons. I know I am about to step out of the shadows of Root and into the light, but I want you to know that a part of me will always be a part of the shadows." Naruto stated with conviction. Naruto knew that killing and assassination would always be a part of him. "I thank you for all you have given me, Danzo-jiji. I know I can't really repay you, but I did get you a present for all your time and effort. I personally believe that you will enjoy it. Here, open it." Naruto said while handing over an envelope.

Danzo was interested. It had been a _very_ long time since he had gotten a gift. Not many people gave gifts to people who ran ANBU operations for some strange reason. It had always baffled him. And now here was his only student giving him a gift. It was a surprisingly touchy moment for Danzo. He quickly crushed the feeling though because feelings had no place in his world. Danzo reached out and took the envelope and opened it. He was stunned to say the least.

Naruto smiled at seeing Danzo-jiji speechless. It was a good feeling. His gift must have been even more amazing than he first thought. Naruto hoped Danzo-jiji would appreciate just how awesome his gift was. It had taken him a week to think of it, and it had cost him a decent sum of money. It would all be worth it though if Danzo-jiji liked it.

_Naruto actually got me this_! Danzo thought incredulously as he looked at the piece of paper in his hands. It was a certificate stating that the recipient could order up to 30 bowls of any type of ramen at Ichirakus. _I don't know whether to be angry or amused, and knowing Naruto, this isn't a joke. The boy really believes this to be the ultimate in gifts. I guess I should... thank him?_

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I am sure that I will put your gift to good use." Danzo said with a slightly forced voice. He got a very big smile in response. _Now the real question is if I will ever redeem this personally_, Danzo thought sourly. Danzo was a man who had never tasted ramen. This meant that he really had no idea if the food Naruto praised so much would be any good or not. _I guess I should try it... if only for Naruto's sake. The people of the stall will probably inform Naruto that his gift was __never used if I don't use it anyway. So... I guess I will eat ramen. Maybe... _

Naruto was glad that Danzo-jiji seemed to like his gift. He had worked hard on it! Days of brainstorming had finally netted him the idea of ramen. It always seemed to be just the thing for him, so Danzo-jiji would probably enjoy it as well. Thus, Naruto came up with the idea for ramen as his gift. He just knew it would be perfect for Danzo-jiji. Naruto walked out of the training ground with a smile on his face. The smile stayed there until he was a long way away from Root HQ.

With Danzo

"That boy will go far in the service of Konoha. Void jutsus, huh." Danzo snorted before a slight smile appeared on his face. "Yes, Naruto-kun will go very far indeed. I guess I owe him that clone jutsu after all. Fu!" Danzo shouted.

Appearing from the shadows, Fu knelt. "Yes, Danzo-sama?"

"I want you to get Ezelia and have her teach Naruto-kun the **Kage Bunshin**. Shadow clones should help the boy greatly, especially with his chakra reserves. I want him to know the jutsu before graduation. And make sure he gets the information in this folder." Danzo said as an after-thought. He handed over a file from inside his clothes. "This information should prove beneficial to Naruto-kun very soon." Danzo then walked away.

Fu was intrigued. He had seen Naruto's new jutsus himself. They truly were great assassination jutsus. What made them even better was the ability to use them in direct combat outside of assassination. What amazed Fu the most though was the ability to cancel out a fire jutsu. With that kind of capability at this early stage in development, who knows how strong his void jutsus will be in a few years. It would be interesting to find out.

Fu went off to find Ezelia and complete his instructions. He would be visiting Naruto later to deliver the information, and he planned to see just how far Naruto wanted to go in his jutsu creation. Fu just hoped that Naruto could see how far he could really take his void jutsu.

End

**A/N: I hate to say it but I think I will be using the teams from canon. I hate to do it because Naruto is not the dead-last like in canon, but I really need Kakashi to teach Naruto for plot reasons. Hopefully my ideas and explanation will overcome any ill will from using canon teams. I also had Sasuke discover his sharingan a month or so earlier than in canon. This won't really have a big impact on the story, but it seems more believable if Naruto is sending him to the hospital a lot. **

**Next chapter is graduation and the real genin exam plus some interesting developments. **


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